By Naveed Rozais
The beauty of TikTok is in its diversity. In a single scroll through the app, you can see a wide range of content creators (both local and international) giving their audiences truly unique experiences.
One of the most interesting forms of content on TikTok is food content, with chefs of all levels creating delectable dishes on video to excite all foodies, casual or otherwise. In the Sri Lankan food content space, Wild Cookbook is one of the biggest platforms out there.
Its creator, Charith N. Silva, is himself a chef with a background in food with a robust following on both YouTube (2.3 million followers) and TikTok (over three million followers). Recently, like many other creators, Charith took the plunge to pursue creating content full-time.
The Sunday Morning Brunch chatted with Charith about this new development and also about Wild Cookbook and how it started.
Following are excerpts from our interview:
How did you get into cooking and what made you decide to be a chef?
I’ve dreamt of becoming a chef since childhood. I come from a family of chefs and I also used to watch cookery programmes conducted by world-famous chefs. All these things inspired me in the last few years to become a food content creator as well as pursue a professional career as a chef.
Your TikTok Wild Cookbook is one of Sri Lanka’s biggest food content platforms; how did it come about?
When the Covid-19 outbreak happened in 2020, our jobs were at risk [chefs work in the tourism field] and we had to stay home for most of the lockdown period. I thought that would be the best time to begin doing videos for TikTok. I’ve had a longstanding dream to be a social media content creator.
In the beginning, I created content just for fun. I never thought that people would love the content that I was making this much. My videos, especially on TikTok, went viral in a really unexpected way and I began receiving a lot of positive comments and feedback from all around the world. The amazing response to Wild Cookbook has led me to becoming a full-time content creator now.
How did you balance Wild Cookbook and your day job? What’s it like now as a full-time content creator?
Balancing Wild Cookbook with my day job was hard but I had the full support of my team and that allowed me to do both. Having quit my job recently to work as a full-time creator, at first I wasn’t sure if it was the right decision, but now having moved into creating content full-time I’m confident that it is the best decision I could have made.
Now I cook on camera every day and most of the time it takes a whole day to shoot one video. It’s not always an easy thing to do, but I love doing it.
What is the hardest thing about cooking and filming?
I would say preparation for the shooting and the cleaning part are the hardest things. But my team helps me with that a lot. Each and every day we experience many new things while shooting, so it never gets boring.
What is your favourite thing to cook and have you made it on camera yet?
I love making gnocchi from scratch; it’s so interesting and satisfying to make. I have made videos about gnocchi once or twice and I plan to make many more gnocchi dishes (and videos about gnocchi dishes) in the future.
What do you think of the Sri Lankan food content scene and how can it improve?
I see so many amazing food content creators nowadays. It’s very inspiring to see so many people getting into this field now. A few years ago, there were very few creators in this field.
In terms of improvement, I think if creators continue to think outside the box and keep bringing their creativity to life in interesting ways, there is huge potential for food content.
What have you got in mind for the future as a food content creator?
It’s still the beginning of my journey. I have lots more to do. For now, I simply want to give my audience the best content. That is what my team and I are working on now. For the future… let’s see how it goes.
Follow Wild Cookbook on YouTube and social media @wildcookbook