Chantale Simard, a passionate cook from Lac-Saint-Jean, posts videos daily on social networks to help people who are less skilled in the kitchen or to inspire those who like to get their hands dirty.

You have probably seen the famous “Les Recettes de Chantale” page on social networks, which has been gaining popularity for 10 years now.

"I was 'polluting' my Facebook by posting a lot of recipes and at some point someone suggested that I open a recipe page for me," she recalls.

This is what she did, on January 16, 2013, with the help of her spouse whom she affectionately calls her Mario.

“She was filming herself and I offered to film her at some point. We started quietly, not quickly, and over the years, I became the official cameraman, ”admits Mr. Gagnon.

His Facebook page has now passed the milestone of 27,000 followers. Chantale had no idea that a simple sharing of passion could take on such proportions with social media.

"I get comments from a lot of people, from young couples living in apartments to 'ladies' my age who have never made béchamel or thickened a sauce, who don't know how to do it and who tell me that they learned that with me,” she explained.

Pretty much everywhere in the world

Chantale Simard is known throughout Quebec, Ontario and even in several countries thanks to Chantale's recipes.

"Sometimes I say to myself, let's see, I'm in France, I'm in Belgium, I'm in Europe," she raved.

His accent from Lac-Saint-Jean sometimes gives a hard time to his subscribers who do not always understand his expressions.

“Sometimes people tell me they have trouble with my Lac-Saint-Jean accent. Sometimes there are expressions that people don't know what it means at all, ”admitted Chantale.

From generation to generation

In addition to giving ideas for recipes of her own, she shares some from the family nucleus. In 1994, his family published a few copies of the book The Culinary Secrets of the Simard Family.

“These are recipes from my grandmothers, my aunts. These are recipes that I use every day. We have plenty of recipes on the Internet, but it's fun to have recipes from our family, ”admitted Ms. Simard.

She shares some of them on her page.

“So much the better if I just convey that, just the pleasure of cooking,” she continued.

A passion that she also passes on to the little ones in her daycare, who can occasionally be seen in her videos.

“Ask my 4-year-old Alexis how a cake is made. Alexis, he will tell you that you need flour, butter, coconuts. They know what we put in a cake because I involve them, ”she explained.

It's not just his passion that is contagious, his good humor too!