The Michoacán grandmother whose cooking videos have become a viral YouTube sensation has been awarded the social media site’s Gold Play Button for reaching one million subscribers.

Doña Ángela, host of De mi rancho a tu cocina (From my farm to your kitchen), earned the gold — and the Silver Play Button for 100,000 subscribers — in less than two months after opening her channel.

At the time of this writing, Doña Ángela’s 22 videos had garnered 1.56 million subscribers and over 36 million total views.

With the help of her daughter, she explains in a friendly and simple way how to prepare classic Mexican recipes like chile rellenos (stuffed chiles), mole, red rice, chicken soup and picadillo (ground beef with potatoes).

She also has instructive videos on specialties from her home state of Michoacán and seasonal delicacies, such as candied pumpkin for Day of the Dead.

In addition to recipes, Doña Ángela also gives gardening tips and methods for using traditional Mexican cookware, such as clay pots, pewter casserole dishes, the comal (clay griddle) and the volcanic stone mortar and pestle called a molcajete.

In true social media culture fashion, Doña Ángela’s swift rise to popularity didn’t come without the attendant haters. A YouTube video posted in early October claimed that “the people behind the videos” were taking advantage of the woman.

Other channels jumped on the bandwagon and posted similar videos.

A few days later, Doña Ángela dispelled the rumors before beginning her homestyle recipe for stuffed chiles.

“Today I want to tell you to ignore the gossip . . . Pure gossip, because I’m here working quietly with my daughter . . . Don’t listen to them. I’m happy with you and I know you like the recipes I upload.”

Doña Ángela’s videos have become popular outside Mexico as well, especially in the United States. They have now been translated and feature English subtitles.

Source: Yo Soi Tú (sp)