How Viral Lasagna Cakes Shape the Online Kitchen Wars
Food-driven media groups are all about performative excess
Food media is in the middle of a renaissance. As we speak, whole recipes are being condensed down to GIF format for rapid delivery. Instagram stories detailing each excruciating step of making the perfect homemade sourdough-based doughnut are getting millions of views. Nine seasons of The Great British Bake Off are being streamed over and over for their therapeutic effects. Even food magazine giants have crossed over into the YouTube sphere and have created a new type of reality star that people can’t get enough of.
There is a fine balance for these video producers between introducing viewers to cooks who are relatable, making sure there is enough comic relief, and trying to convince viewers that they too can produce these seemingly complicated dishes and ingredients at home. And in the past two years, the producers and talent have really locked it all in.
Since then, a variety of food celebrities have risen in the ranks, Bon Appétit, Buzzfeed’s Tasty, YouTube, and others, to create unique, comical, and mouthwatering content that separates itself from the often more serious, written form of food media publications. Some of the content has been enlightening and inspiring, while some, like Corn on The Cob 10…
