Six foodie YouTube video series we can't stop watching
From easy recipes to make during a pandemic to ridiculous candy remakes to make never, some of the best food content these days is all available for free on the World Wide Web. Here is what we can't stop streaming.
Nat's What I Reckon
The tattooed Sydney drummer rose to the pandemic occasion with his no bullsh-t videos that condemn convenient packet food with lots of swearing and sarcasm. His recipes are just as easy to make as they are to watch; his dry humour hitting a chord with Australia as many attempt to cook for the first time.
Where do I start? End of Days Bolognese throws the jar of bolognese sauce in the bin and makes your own. My non-cooking partner made his Chilli Con Can't Go Outside last night, and it was delicious.
Gourmet Makes by Bon Appetit
Claire Saffitz, the dessert darling of American food magazine Bon Appetit, attempts to recreate a classic candy or packaged food from scratch. With cameos from other BA staff, there are plenty of laughs, mostly at Saffitz's expense, and tears, mostly from Saffitz, as she deals with silicone moulds and poorly tempered chocolate.
Where do I start? The Doritos episode involves a hilariously trying mix of complicated math, weird powdered cheese and tears.
Migrationology by Mark Wiens
Award-winning travel vlogger Mark Wiens is known for two things: travelling the world in search of the best street food, and his strange orgasm face that he makes when he tastes something delicious. His videos are long and his adjectives for describing the taste of these far out foods really grind my food-writer gears, but if you plan on taking a trip somewhere in the very-distant possibly-never future, they do make an intrepid guide on what to order when you're there.
Where do I start? His Pakistan video has him on a 16-hour food tour in Lahore, starting with puri and chana eaten on the hood of a car on the side of a busy, noisy highway and ending with a bloodshot Wiens feasting on goat chops and mutton korma in a late-night diner. Goals.
Pasta Grannies
This incredibly endearing channel travels around Italy to meet the passionate nonnas who still make their pasta by hand in restaurants and in their own homes. It's living proof that eating lots of pasta is the secret to a long and healthy life and I won't hear another word on the topic.
Where do I start? 100-year-old Letizia measuring out the flour for her Sicilian tagliarini pasta by the handful is a good place to being your fangirling for these amazing women.
Hot Ones by First We Feast
Each episode host Sean Evans interviews a celebrity while they simultaneously eat hot wings covered in hot sauces that go up the scoville spice range. While not so much food oriented, it's a brutally fun way to watch famous people (Gordon Ramsay, Justin Timberlake, Margot Robbie, to name a few) come to tears as they obliterate their tastebuds.
Where do I start? Chef and TV-host Eddie Huang decides to start from the spiciest wing first, resulting in him running to the toilet up in the first three minutes of the episode – a valuable reminder to wash your hands after touching chilli, especially before taking a leak.
Peaceful Cuisine
If all of the above is too much for your senses to take, vegan vlogger Ryoya Takashima makes videos that aim to calm. He makes ASMR (that's Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, a sensation that is meant to relax and sedate you based on audio) versions of his cooking videos that focuses on the sounds that come from cooking – the glug of oil, the tick of a gas flame lighting, the slice of a sharp knife through an onion – which many say send them straight to sleep.
Where do I start? "How to make bubble tea" has more than 14 million views, but don't watch during the work day unless your boss is flexible with you taking midday naps on your desk.