Students Turn to Online Videos to Recreate Tasty Food
Tasty offers a variety of short videos showing how to make different recipes, both savory and sweet.
April 29, 2016
Food for thought indeed.
Over the last few months, Buzzfeed’s Tasty videos have been adding some zest to the Internet, spicing up YouTube channels and Facebook walls everywhere. The one-minute video recipes show viewers how to create various dishes for every course of a meal, from Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Pinwheels for dessert and Ratatouille Boats for appetizers to Super Spicy Szechuan Chicken for dinner and Baked Egg Benedict Cups for breakfast.
According to Tasty’s YouTube channel and Facebook page description, the videos show “food that’ll make you close your eyes, lean back, and whisper ‘yessss.’”
Buzzfeed started its Tasty channel in December 2015, and in four months, the YouTube channel already has almost 250,000 subscribers and the Facebook page has over 50 million likes.
There will always be trends and fads on social media, but this one seems to be sticking to the roofs of our mouths. Why?
Tasty’s channel and page description claim that it has “snack-sized videos and recipes you’ll want to try,” which is likely a reason for its rise to success.
On average, Tasty video dishes require between four and seven ingredients, most of which are commonplace kitchen ingredients like flour, sugar, eggs, chicken and onions. That ease, combined with the relatively simple steps needed has made the dishes appealing to even those who don’t normally cook or don’t have the time.
“When I first saw the videos on Facebook, I was so intrigued by how easy they looked to make, and once I tried making, it I realized that it is super easy,” senior Ethan Kaufman said. “So I liked the page and always watch the new Tasty videos when they are posted. I love to cook too, so these videos give me more inspiration and fun ways to spice up a dish.”
Oftentimes, the hardest part of cooking is coming up with an idea of what to make. Figuring out the recipe is an entirely different venture. Tasty’s simplistic guides provide a solution to both issues. Many intricate-sounding dishes like the Black & White Mille Crepe are clearly detailed in just a few steps.
But sometimes they’re not.
“I made red velvet cupcakes once,” junior Elizabeth Mihai said. “When I was making them, I guess they skipped a step in the video, because the batter had a watery part in the middle where it shouldn’t have. I was upset—I love baking.”
Sometimes, it’s easier said than baked. But it’s not uncommon for people to avoid actually making the recipes because people think they may be too difficult.
“I bake Tasty recipes anyway because it looks easy to do,” Mihai said. “And they’re fast.”
Part of the appeal of Tasty videos could also lie in the “eye-candy” aspect. The videos are fun to watch, as they tend to involved different colors and movements and result in dazzlingly delicious dishes. But it’s also clear that social media platforms have had a huge effect on Tasty’s budding fame.
Cooking and baking Tasty recipes make for great Snapchat stories, whether it’s hilarious that the creator has messed up completely or wonderful that the dish looks exactly like that of the video. Not to mention the number of guaranteed likes on Insta for a naturally-lit picture of some DIY Frozen Yogurt Lemon Bars.
Even beyond that, Tasty videos were made for social media platforms like Pinterest and Twitter. Buzzfeed has been strategic in its decision to post videos on social media outlets rather than directly on its parent website in order to maximize its viewing audience.
According to a January Fortune article, Tasty videos take advantage of Facebook’s autoplay feature, which starts playing videos without the sound on. This means that one could see a full minute guide to creating Chicken Chow Mein Nests in public without having to make the effort to turn any sound on or even click on the videos.
Aside from their appetizing effects, the videos seem to be inspiring a renewed interest in cooking. They’ve made seemingly complicated dishes seem accessible to people at home with only a few ingredients and utensils.
So whether people are drawn to the videos because of the recipes’ easy- enough steps, Insta-worthy results, or because of a constant state of hunger, the fact remains that Tasty is becoming more popular than sliced bread.