I would be lying if I said that TikTok did not have a major role in my experience of 2020. This insane app turned my world upside down. My friends and I will be in the same room, silent, with hints of giggling as we send each other our favorite videos. I love that each of us has a FYP (for you page) unique to our interests, senses of humor, and celebrity crushes. Bringing back the nostalgia of vine, with the added benefit of being inspired by its creators' life and food hacks, I find myself laughing, crying, and cooking due to all the TikToks I've seen this past year.
Out of all the niches of TikTok, I find myself hanging out within Food TikTok the most. I especially love watching Gordon Ramsay absolutely demolishing home cooks when he duets and reacts to their attempts at his recipes. I also love trying new and intriguing recipe trends when they catch my eye while scrolling through the app for hours on end.
Here is a ranking of 10 of the most popular food trends on TikTok, with my own personal reasoning for each one:
{ DISCLAIMER: I was not able to find the original creators for most of these trends, and have also not attempted to make all of these. However, my narcissistic and opinionated ass thought it would be nice to share my judgements anyway. Enjoy }
10 - Cream-Cheese Bell Pepper Snack
Ya sure, this looks like an easy low-carb snack that with the addition of protein like turkey could be a great alternative to unhealthy options. However, I hate cream-cheese, and I hate green bell peppers even more. So, this gets the bottom of my list. Buh-bye.
9 - Colorful Cloud Bread
Just make and eat regular bread. There are so many better uses for egg whites or chick pea liquid. This is just slowly baked meringue that has been rebranded. Looks more like something I'd use as packing material than as something I'd want to ingest. Cool to try once, since I'll admit it's pretty satisfying to look at and feel, but you won't be craving it again.
8 - Frog bread
Cute when assembling, but a nightmare once it comes out of the oven. Only frog-bread TikTok professionals can make these come out looking like actual frogs, while the rest of us have blobs of madness on our hands. I love carbs, and won't pass up the opportunity to have my house smell like freshly baked bread, but I'll stick with normal loaves for now. (I have my own recipe for no-knead bread here)
7- Pancake cereal
Pancake Cereal looks awesome, but in practice, is lacking. Don't get me wrong, if someone else went through the effort to make this, I'd enjoy it without any complaints. However, I can't get around the fact that these get so soggy, so quick, and how annoying it is to make a crap-ton of tiny pancakes versus a beautiful stack of regular sized fluffy rounds of perfection. I'd prefer a regular batch of pancakes any day. Again, it's a one-time attempt, or something to make for young kids, but then something to forget.
6 - One pan breakfast sandwich
Personally, I prefer a nice crispy piece of toast to eat with my eggs, but this was a fun one to try. More like French toast (if you're using regular bread, I've also made it with a tortilla),you can add any fillings you wants (bacon, avocado, cheese, etc.) and every bite you take will have the right amount of well cooked egg.
5 - Tanghulu (Sugar Glass) Strawberries and Grapes
I haven't made these yet, but want to so bad before heading back to school. Turning berries into literal candy with a lovely shiny coating? Yes Please! Beautiful to look at, and they clack together in such a serotonin-releasing way. The grapes and strawberries seem to be the most popular videos on the app, but people have been covering all fruits with this caramel mixture. I'd say my only complaint is that the sound of people taking obnoxiously noisy bites into these gets old pretty quickly.
4 - Banana Bread
There's no way that I can post something relating to food and 2020 and NOT talk about banana bread. It's a sweet, cakey treat that convinces me I'm still being semi-healthy, and is one of the only things I can call "moist" without feeling weird about it. It's the best use for overripe bananas sitting on your counter. At my house, banana bread is one of those "kitchen sink" recipes where you can chuck in whatever mix-ins you have, like mini chocolate chips, nuts, dried fruit, coconut, zucchini, etc. I've never met a piece of banana bread I didn't like.
3 - Charcuterie Boards
Pinterest perfection has made its way to TikTok. Do I eat cured meats or smelly cheeses? Nope. Do I still love the satisfying arrangement of a charcuterie board on a beautiful wooden platter? HECK YES. The possibilites are endless with charcuterie boards, which TikTok has proven time and time again. The assembly, the aesthetic, the colors, the textures, the creativity, all of it is just wonderful. Who knew something so simple could make me so happy?! I made one on New Year's Day for my family to graze on, and it was definitely an amazing start to my 2021. People have even made dessert versions, and Chick-fil-a boards to make your mouth water.
2 - Folding tortilla wrap
This wins over the folded breakfast sandwich because of it's sheer versatility. This is a more recent viral tiktok trend compared to the others, but still deserves a spot close to the top. Any day I learn a new way to wrap and eat a sandwich is a great day. One of my favorite versions is the falafel and hummus folded wrap made by TikTok's golden young chef, Jeremy Scheck . This is my new lunch method of choice! (see example on Tiktok here).
1 - Whipped coffee
Super sweet coffee isn't usually my fave, but this is just spectacular. Known as Dalgona coffee, this shiz hits HARD. It's made by whipping up equal parts of instant coffee, sugar, and hot water until super rich and creamy, then adding a dollop or five to a glass of cold milk (I use almond milk). I have also just eaten like whipped cream with a spoon. Totally instagramable, totally tasty, and easy to make. My sister made this almost every morning during the months of April-July 2020 to distract us from the chaos that was (and still very much is) COVID-19. Iced coffee for the win!
