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Jade McCully

A spritz of oil, a plump leg placed just so – Paula Deen’s food stylist has plenty of tricks to make fried chicken look, well, sexy.

In an era when the Food Network and glossy gourmet mags are referenced as “food porn,” it wouldn’t be untoward to refer to Libbie as the culinary equivalent of a fluffer.

“It’s all about the ‘Beauty Shot,’” she confides with a wink. “Pastry always looks beautiful, but anything with a cheesy layer is a challenge – mac n’cheese is a nightmare!”

Unlike a decade ago when trussing up a piece of fish or stacking up potatoes for a photo was de rigeur, Libbie keeps it simple with beautiful linens and contemporary kitchenware.

“Two-dimensional food should look like it just came out of the oven,” she says, adding that “Stacking is so over.”

When she’s not dressing up fruit tarts, the avid fashionista sails around the globe, serving as a gourmet chef on private yachts.