As the cold, wintery months roll in, what better way to fill your time than exploring the warming recipes on #FoodTok? Our community can't get enough of our creators' ideas for wholesome family meals - especially ones that are sustainable and budget-friendly too!
So, it's the perfect moment to spotlight Martyn, aka @lagomchef, an amazing chef who is inspiring our #cooking community to try their hand in the kitchen with his entertaining passion for food and commitment to fighting food waste.
His tips and tricks include how tos for basic dishes, ideas to elevate the humble potato, and new recipes we all should be trying. All of this while keeping a focus on reducing or eliminating food waste. Whether you are looking for a use for some cheese that's going out of date, to try your hand at pickling veg instead of letting it go off, or just want a laugh - Martyn is the creator for you!
With a constantly growing audience of 738k followers, it is clear our community loves Martyn just as much as we do! We sat down with @lagomchef to ask him about all things food . . .
Firstly, what first inspired you to create on TikTok?
I love the raw, immediate nature of TikTok. I spent a lot of time on Instagram curating my feed and my content ideas with not much joy! With TikTok I feel it's way more accepting of unpolished videos. It is a platform that feels way more intuitive to answer people's questions with videos.
Have you been surprised by the response you have had from the community?
Blown away by the response! I was posting videos that were being seen by 200 people 4 months ago! One video went viral and I just ran with what people requested. I have always been a firm believer in creating content for people rather than creating it for myself! People genuinely want to learn and learning through some fun and comedy is my aim!
Why do you think foodie content work so well on TikTok?
Everyone needs to eat haha! There are so many forms of foodie content from the ASMR style of showing people how good you can cook and edit a video all the way through to someone showing you how to grate butter with a sieve.
Cooking is full of "This is the best" and "This is the only way", which I don't really like, and this is why I think my audience is fully engaged with what I am doing. I am a chef, I know what I am talking about and I know what works, but food is subjective as someone's favourite steak might be dry and well done when everyone thinks the perfect steak is medium rare.
There is so much to learn with cooking and I think this is why TikTok is a great channel for it! People can pick up a quick hack, recipe, tip etc when they are just scrolling.
What is your goal on TikTok?
My goal was to hit 500k by the end of the year! But now I don't know!!!
I want to grow my channel to be as big as it can be, and my focus on food is food waste. So if I can build an audience that will listen to me then I can communicate to a bigger audience about my real drivers!
The sustainability chat is always very doomsday and bleak, even chefs that I love who talk about food waste and farming bore me to death and I feel they are alienating a huge chunk of the people who will and do care about food waste! So I want to be that "fun teacher" who people listen to.
I want to do something for the greater good by setting up a charity and making my presence more physical than living in a digital space. I feel that through good vibes and laughter we can tackle things like depression and loneliness!
What other creators are on your For You feed?
Andy Cooks is brilliant - he must have quite a bit of money as he is always cooking up some amazing stuff!
What do you love most about the TikTok community?
I love that they engage, comment and are outwardly positive! It makes you feel like you are actually doing something really positive when people write something about food waste, learning something or even just being picked up by my videos. I have never had so many people open up about their struggles with depression, anxiety and day to day struggles, but messaging me and saying that my energy in my videos really make them happy!
What is your favourite TikTok you have made to date and why?
I had a brilliant day and I came home and grated some frozen feta! For some reason it just really got me! I still watch it back now and it just cracks me up! But I would also say the frozen ginger video! The raw untapped vibe of the video again just makes me laugh hard! And that video is what blew my account up!
New to TikTok and want to explore more #FoodTok content? Getting involved couldn’t be easier, simply download the app for free via the Apple App Store, Google Play or Amazon.