Not all heroes wear capes. Some of them wear aprons!
Turkish chef and well-known YouTuber Burak Özdemir took to the streets to feed a whole town for Islamic holiday Eid al-Adha. Known to YouTube as CZN Burak, the smiley chef has made a habit of giving to others through his delicious food. Last year for Muharram, Burak cooked a beautiful and nutritious feast for his community. Doesn't get any more wholesome than that. Sure, his videos get a lot of likes, but we'd rather not look at these viral videos through a cynical lens. Some people are just plain kind.
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First dates usually go one of two ways. You have a great time, maybe get lucky, and end up with butterflies fluttering 'round your insides. Or you excuse yourself after a drink, feign a friend emergency, and ultimately hope to never talk to them again. When things go well you might receive some sweet (or saucy) texts and the exciting promise of another rendezvous. Twitter user @devilmeadow, however, has clued us into another tastier way to secure a second date - by sending your love interest a 12kg wheel of cheese.
my little sister went on a date with a young farmer tonight. He decided to gift her a 12kg wheel of cheese...? pic.twitter.com/lYdXYtgHOw
— 𝕰𝖑𝖎𝖟𝖆𝖇𝖊𝖙𝖍 🔮💫👁 (@devilmeadow) April 10, 2021
We've heard that the way to a man's heart is his stomach, but this enterprising farmer decided to take a gamble by gifting @devilmeadow's sister a nearly unreasonable amount of cheese. Judging by the replies to the viral tweet, this gamble has probably paid off. The replies and retweets are filled with women who are astounded by and jealous of the delicious gift. While some women (and brands) urged the recipient to lock the farmer down, others are simply lamenting the fact that their spouses have never thought to exhibit such dairy-filled generosity. We may never know if this budding relationship will lead to something greater, but we really hope that she isn't lactose intolerant.
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Hair is one of the most important parts of our appearance. It's one of the first things that other people notice about us and it contributes to everything from our attractiveness to our perceived social standing. There's nothing like a bad hair day to ruin the mood, so it's not surprising that some go to extreme lengths to avoid it.
However, most people wouldn't take the drastic step that one woman decided on in Duffy's Sports Grill, Miami. In a video posted on Instagram, she is shown to have taken a heat styling brush with her to the restaurant and she uses it to style her hair only a few feet away from where diners are eating. Reacting to her dedication to her follicles, commenters were unsure whether they admired her commitment or if they were horrified at the prospect of a few stray strands ending up in other peoples' meals. Either way, one thing's for sure: vanity is a very powerful motivator.
You're at a diner with a group of pals and you're so hungry you can barely make sentences. Then the server comes with a beautiful cornucopia of rye rolls, sourdough slices and buttery brioche. What do you do? Your basic human instinct tells you to stuff your face, but apparently there are rules. What rules, you ask? The arbitrary social rules of Twitter, of course. Tweeter @slicksista claims to have argued in a private group chat that it's not a good look to go grabbing for the bread basket as soon as it hits the table. Her GC disagreed and so she decided to take the matter public. Bad idea. The results are in: of the 368,744 who participated in @slicksista's poll, 97% say that it is not 'tacky' to eat restaurant bread as soon as it arrives.
The initial replies were pretty spicy, but @slicksista didn't give in right away. She argued that when it comes to restaurant bread, the proper dining etiquette is to wait a full five minutes before reaching for those delicious, warm carbs. And if you're hangry? @slicksista persisted that 'if you that hungry you should've had a pregame meal.' The pro-bread camp came for @slicksista for days, culminating in a staggering 17.5k quote tweets. Overwhelmed by the indignation, @slicksista made a tongue-in-cheek statement addressing the matter. Once again, Twitter proves that people will passionately argue over anything and everything. Keep scrolling for some of the best reactions to the bread etiquette debate.
Until recently, we didn't think eating was that hard. If you weren't raised by wolves, chances are you can employ cutlery with ease, and know the proper way to eat a burrito or a slice of pizza. It's not rocket science. But somehow, there are people who are alive and exist who make a terrible mockery of the conventions of consumption. It's time for us to raise awareness and take a stand against these absolute monsters.
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It's common knowledge that most fast food restaurants don't exactly serve the finest products in the world. You don't get a full meal for $5 without cutting a few corners, although as a customer you're usually shielded from how that process works.
However, this is no longer the case for patrons of Little Caesars. The sauce making process for the pizza chain was recently leaked by an employee filming themselves producing a batch. Showing a mixture of tomato puree, herbs and water blended in a container, the distinctly unappetizing video has been viewed nearly five million times and produced some polarized reactions.
Some people were completely repulsed, and pointed out the gross breach of sanitation regulations involved with preparing food on the floor. Others claimed it did nothing to put them off ordering there again. On top of these was a third group, who pointed out that what the video was showing was not really much of a shock. At this point, they argue, surely we all realize that quality gets sacrificed for convenience.
From the beans at Taco Bell to the eggs in a hotel breakfast, people 'exposing' the truth behind mass catering has been a prominent viral trend over the past year or two. Boosted by TikTok's huge audience for behind the scenes job videos and the pandemic increasing reliance on takeout, revelations on the topic have become an almost expected part of the viral social media cycle. The truth behind our food is not so much of a shock as a grim acceptance of how we consume in society today. Our pizza sauce might look worse in a tub that it does on the pie, but aren't we primed to accept that already?
There are relatable memes in this world, and then there are starter packs. They're kind of like relatable memes on steroids, because they're not based on a feeling, they're based on real people and cultural trends that we're all very, very familiar with. Though almost all starter pack memes are incredibly specific, some of them riff on pretty obvious topics (potato-heavy clam chowder, Disney movies) while others choose to roast more distinct people and phenomena, like those "self-made" money-making gurus on Twitter. Aside from the achingly familiar themes, we love starter packs because they're constantly being made by Internet comedians, so there's no shortage of this excellent brand of humor.
Food. We need it to sustain our thankless existence on planet Earth. But somehow, the human race has managed to turn this necessity into a luxury status symbol. There are "foodies" in every restaurant, frantically trying to get a good shot of their Instagrammable acai bowls or salads so they can share with their friends. To prove that they eat clean or pretty. We think that shit is dumb as hell. We prefer to chow down with relish and urgency instead of taking photos while the food we're supposed to eat gets cold. This attitude is definitely reflected in this batch of memes. It's time to stop taking this part of culture so seriously, and just enjoy ourselves. And our meals. The same way we enjoy the weird memes they inspire.
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Via tom cardy
No one can argue that America doesn't have good breakfast food. The land that invented the bacon, egg and cheese must be respected as a morning meal innovator, but it also has some stiff competition. Whatever you might think of baked beans, the English breakfast is a formidable combination of food. For Australian comedian Tom Cardy, it's also an occasionally regrettable one. Despite his reservations about its effect on the stomach, he has produced this song in its honor. It's catchy enough to get anyone craving hash browns, no matter the time of day.
Foodservice can be a taxing industry to work in. The fast-paced environment, formidable Karens and all-round frequent crises mean the average shift doesn't leave much room to breathe. If anything, that is all the more reason for fast food workers to find the entertainment value where they can.
This is the philosophy behind @etherealloverboy's videos. An anonymous Chick-Fil-A employee, their account is dedicated to showing off the many strange and occasionally baffling orders that their branch receives. Examples range from customers asking for items that the chain doesn't even produce to combinations that don't seem to make any sense (kudos to the person eating mac and cheese with a straw). It's not all weird customer requests, either. The occasional order or motivational message from other crew members also slips through.
Overall, the insight these videos provide offer a revealing, entertaining portrait of what it's like to deal with the hangry general public every day. It does leave us with some questions, though, like how do they manage to deal with them all?
Photoshopped product packages have been making the rounds on the meme scene for at least five years. The most popular instances of this phenomenon take the form of Hot Pockets and Pop Tarts packaging. Memers doctor the packages to boast appetizing flavors such as "dryer lint" and "filthy ashtray" - the latter of which is a bit too familiar to feel fake. While these culinary creations won't be winning any James Beard awards, they do succeed at both making us cringe and helping us lose our appetites. And at the risk of sounding normie - we still have a lot of quarantine weight to shed before we feel totally comfortable at the beach. We'll take all the help we can get.
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In this world of cursed recipes, depression meals and viral recipe trolls, it sometimes feels like the internet's relationship to food is one deliberately designed to be as off-putting as possible.
However, we don't have to despair completely — we still have Guy Fieri. The flamboyant chef is a one man antidote to toxic food memes, overshadowing them one flame print shirt at a time.
The Mayor of Flavortown has made a name for himself over the years, winning over memers with his big personality and excessive approach to everything edible. Not only does this formula have him winning popularity contests, he's also raking in the cash. He's reportedly scored an $80 million deal by renewing his contract with Food Network, guaranteeing us another three years of extravagant junk food and even more extravagant adjective usage. Naturally, this is the perfect excuse for the perusal of some fine Guy Fieri memes, so strap in tight for some righteous, lights-out delicious content.
Candy is meant to be the opposite of evil, but sometimes that's not always the case. Anyone who's watched an ad for M&Ms (or seen some of the memes) can see there's something fishy going on with their mascots. Primarily the fact that their favorite food appears to be other M&Ms. Cannibalism is hardly a light topic, even when it's being done by chocolate-based goods. However, that hasn't stopped The Food Theorists from tackling it. Tracing the history of the candy's fondness for the flesh of its own kind, they come to some interesting conclusions in the video below.
If you've been on Twitter at all in the past 24 hours, you've probably seen that Prego is trending. No, the pathetic excuse for a pasta sauce has not been abolished from grocery store shelves. Instead, the gullible people of the internet are expressing their shock and horror at yet another white person who thinks that smearing food over a shining kitchen island is a "hack."
Obviously the video above from "Josh and Lisa" is disturbing. It's even more disturbing with sound as its participants pretend this is a serious party trick. The dry noodles. The premade...everything. The counter. It's enough to send Gordon Ramsay into a coma. Also disturbing is the fact that people are completely eating this charade up. Which is more than we can say for that pasta.
If a person with deductive reasoning (hello) does even a little bit of digging, it becomes obvious that this video - and many like it - are the brainchild of attention-hungry influencers who film "pranks" with clickbaity titles. The same goes for that nacho hack that horrified us around the Super Bowl. Following repeated viewings of that scarring video, we realized its creator, Taylor Watson, had included the controversial clip in a folder called "Pranks!"
Josh and Lisa's videos look eerily similar to Taylor's. They even filmed a "nacho hack" of their own. It's got to be the most pathetic plagiarism we've seen in our lives. Many of their earlier "works" include a pretty damning disclaimer:
Thanks so much for watching this video! I do hope you enjoy it. Please note that this page features scripted dramas,PARODY HACKS, parody and satire. The events that take place in this particular short-film video are for entertainment purposes only.
It's safe to say that this Prego-laced abomination belongs in that category. While some people may say it's all in good fun, we had a feeling these milquetoast "creators" knew exactly what they were doing. And according to a piece from Eater - we were right. It turns out that all of these despicable shows of "cooking" from polished Facebook personalities lead back to Rick Lax, a Facebook-famous magician with a penchant for using gross concepts to create viral videos. He and his network know they can capitalize on the trope that white people can't cook. And they will continue to do so as long as the views come pouring in. Do they want clout? Do they want engagement so they can start shilling light projectors like viral Twitter users? Or are they in it for fun, as Lax claims? We're not really sure, but it's really time that we stop feeding into their food-wasting, unfunny bullshit.
Edited 1:29 pm to include the revelation of Rick Lax's involvement.
Could you classify any of this as actual food? We can't, but apparently a lot of people did back in the day. If your Boomer parents ever try to tell you how much better life was back then, just hit 'em with an "OK Boomer" and show them this gallery of horrifying foods from the mid-twentieth century that will almost certainly make your stomach churn. Bring on the jello.
It seems like a few months ago, everyone was cranking out beautiful loaves of artisan bread with sourdough starter named Bread Pitt or Emilio Yeastevez. Not gonna lie, I experimented with a little fermentation myself. I don't know about you, but my culinary masterpieces are starting to look more like takeout someone threw out of their car window. Yup, now it's all about microwaved shredded cheese and potato chips. If you're like us and you're trying to feel better about eating cereal for dinner every night, these are the memes for you.
