Does Tiktok really reflect what the Americans eat? An expatriate installed in France reacts to these recipes which make the buzz.
Chips drowned under the melted cheeseChile, hot dog ends, a spoonful of cream and a little salad for color, all stirred in a aluminum dish as wide as a sink. These kitchen videos filmed in the United States Make a tobacco on Tiktok, combining millions of views.
But these calorie mountains Are the unlikely presentation really representative of What the Americans eat on a daily basis?
To be clear, The HuffPost showed some of these recipes to Jessie Kanelos Weiner, a American illustrator and humorist Installed in France for 16 years.
Faced with images, the reaction is not long in coming: ” Oh my God She said, taken aback. Between embarrassed laughter and dismay, she discovers four videos at more extravagant compositions each other, far from what she could know or Cooking in the United States.
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If these contents make Tiktok happy, they seem above all caricature who does not say everything about the American food reality.
Two visions of the kitchen that oppose
« She starts by cooking meatballs and add barbecue sauce and grape jam », Says Jessie, visibly taken aback by this recipe house shared by a childminder.
She immediately nuances: ” At least it’s homemade. It’s always the thing in the United States, we believe that as it is homemade, it’s healthy, but in reality they are dishes based on processed products. »
For her, the problem is Less in the method that in the composition, often saturated withindustrial ingredients Despite an apparent authenticity.
This cocktail of spices, fat and sugar, omnipresent in the videos she discovers, says a lot about a Relationship of cooking where the taste is immediate, almost spectacular.
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« The French seek the best ingredient, subtlety, while Americans Look for fireworks When they eat, with flavored and many tasteful exhausters », observe-t-elle.
Between food constraints and well -established habits
Some videos seem more close to performance culinary than daily reality, but others, according to Jessie, translate A real way of life.
It points to the limits of access to a fresh diet in the United States: ” People do not have access to fresh products, there is a supermarket desert or markets. And even when you find apples for example, they are dear and not good. »
A bitter observation, which Nettling food choices Dictated less by taste than by logistics or budget. Beyond social networks, many Americans make up with what they have on hand, in areas where healthy cook is a challenge.
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For many, the reflex remains the same: opening the cupboards, dig into the canned and improvise a express recipe.
« This is another culture, the Americans do not don’t take time to cook Three times a day. And when they cook, they are often “cupboard recipes” where they open their closets and take everything they find To mix everythingit’s more practical She explains.
Installed in Paris for years, Jessie has swapped the Ultra-transformed dishes against more accessible raw products. But she has denied nothing of her roots: at home, her son is still enjoyed Marshmallow Rice Krispie Treatssweet symbol of an American childhood that she continues to bring to life in her own way.
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Cuisine editor
An editor passionate about taste exploration, I like it as much to share my favorite recipes as to feasting on myself. Behind my pen? 100 % tested and approved content. When my heart does not …
