Tastemade's Tiny Kitchens: Is Less Really More?
Honey, I seem to have shrunk the kid's meal...
With over 620,000 followers and hundreds of thousands of video views, Tastemade's Tiny Kitchen is revolutionizing the way food is prepared. From tiny lobster rolls to miniature poke bowls to even tiny tiered red velvet cake, everything in this minuscule kitchen is cooked in 1/12 the normal size. Now on it's second season, the viral online video series's head of production, Jay Holzer, gives us an inside look into the inspiration for this tiny cooking show. He says the idea came from one of Tastemade's Japanese partners who had sent them an unusual gift: a tiny stove, tiny utensils, and a set of tiny cutting boards. He states that, "Miniatures have long been popular in Japan due to the cultural dominance of kawaii, or all things cute, but making minuscule edible food — rather than polymer clay copies — is the newest incarnation of that trend."
Let's take a look at one of the most popular tiny kitchen video's to this date: Tiny Tacos
To begin, they use a tea-light as their source of heat. With the amount of food being cooked, the candle provides MORE than enough energy to heat up oil or boil water. Once placed under the tiny stove, a paper clip is unraveled and used as a prop to hold the tacos as they are fried in the mini pan. The meat is then added into the inch-long pan and cooked with a spatula no bigger than a fingernail. With the extremely small amounts of meat being cooked, producers have said that it takes no longer than a few seconds on each side. The meat is then carefully placed into the tacos, with touches of lettuce, salsa, sour cream, and cheese sprinkled on top.
Honestly not even big enough to satisfy a mouse's appetite, what is it about this trend that attracts so many loyal followers?
1. The Unbelievable Improvisations
The size discrepancies are unavoidable in this kitchen. However, what truly attracts the audience is the clever ways these chefs have modified recipes to fit in their teeny tiny kitchens. The use of part of a soda straw to cut out doughnuts is something that viewers have never seen before, or honestly never even crossed their mind. For eggs, they use part of a qual egg (the smallest egg commercially available) to whip up a nice omelet of eggs benedict. The ways chefs have manipulated well-known objects and utensils to create these mini meals is a form of art - a combination of math and creativity that amazes viewers worldwide.
2. The Use of Popular Homemade Recips
Holzer has said that the most popular tiny recipes are the ones people know how to make at home. Like mentioned above, tacos is one of the show's most shared videos, along with pancakes and mac 'n' cheese. People want to see how their favorite human-sized meals are prepared in such an extreme environment as the tiny kitchen. Although these videos provide little utility or educational value, it is the pure entertainment that fuels its popularity. The incongruities between the preparation of normal and tiny meals make the show feel more relatable to the audience, while still offering the "wow" factor that keeps us watching.
Works Cited:
With over 620,000 followers and hundreds of thousands of video views, Tastemade's Tiny Kitchen is revolutionizing the way food is prepared. From tiny lobster rolls to miniature poke bowls to even tiny tiered red velvet cake, everything in this minuscule kitchen is cooked in 1/12 the normal size. Now on it's second season, the viral online video series's head of production, Jay Holzer, gives us an inside look into the inspiration for this tiny cooking show. He says the idea came from one of Tastemade's Japanese partners who had sent them an unusual gift: a tiny stove, tiny utensils, and a set of tiny cutting boards. He states that, "Miniatures have long been popular in Japan due to the cultural dominance of kawaii, or all things cute, but making minuscule edible food — rather than polymer clay copies — is the newest incarnation of that trend."
Let's take a look at one of the most popular tiny kitchen video's to this date: Tiny Tacos
To begin, they use a tea-light as their source of heat. With the amount of food being cooked, the candle provides MORE than enough energy to heat up oil or boil water. Once placed under the tiny stove, a paper clip is unraveled and used as a prop to hold the tacos as they are fried in the mini pan. The meat is then added into the inch-long pan and cooked with a spatula no bigger than a fingernail. With the extremely small amounts of meat being cooked, producers have said that it takes no longer than a few seconds on each side. The meat is then carefully placed into the tacos, with touches of lettuce, salsa, sour cream, and cheese sprinkled on top.
Honestly not even big enough to satisfy a mouse's appetite, what is it about this trend that attracts so many loyal followers?
1. The Unbelievable Improvisations
The size discrepancies are unavoidable in this kitchen. However, what truly attracts the audience is the clever ways these chefs have modified recipes to fit in their teeny tiny kitchens. The use of part of a soda straw to cut out doughnuts is something that viewers have never seen before, or honestly never even crossed their mind. For eggs, they use part of a qual egg (the smallest egg commercially available) to whip up a nice omelet of eggs benedict. The ways chefs have manipulated well-known objects and utensils to create these mini meals is a form of art - a combination of math and creativity that amazes viewers worldwide.
2. The Use of Popular Homemade Recips
Holzer has said that the most popular tiny recipes are the ones people know how to make at home. Like mentioned above, tacos is one of the show's most shared videos, along with pancakes and mac 'n' cheese. People want to see how their favorite human-sized meals are prepared in such an extreme environment as the tiny kitchen. Although these videos provide little utility or educational value, it is the pure entertainment that fuels its popularity. The incongruities between the preparation of normal and tiny meals make the show feel more relatable to the audience, while still offering the "wow" factor that keeps us watching.
Works Cited:
Danovich, Tove. "'Tiny Kitchen' Videos Cook Up Real Food In Doll-Sized Portions." The Salt, NPR
Food, 3 May 2016.
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