I’m surprised that I can still be shocked by what people come up with in the kitchen, but every week, it seems like there’s a new entry into the “WTF is that hot mess?” food competition.
This week, it’s a Cheetos-dusted mac and cheese pulled pork pizza. Blogger JP Lambiase of Hellthy Junk Food posted a video of the concoction, which is made with several ridiculous comfort foods, including one of my childhood kryptonites, Velveeta mac and cheese.
Now, obviously, few if any of us are actually going to make this. And his video for this galaxy mac and cheese is even crazier.
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So why do we watch these videos? Why are we obsessed with them?
Well, Lambiase himself said that he started creating these videos while trying to follow a healthier lifestyle.
“What I realized was most important about dieting and being healthy is that balance is just important if not more than sticking to a stringent diet. So I decided to recreate all the food I love with these recipes,” he told The Independent.
I feel like watching food porn like this satisfies our basest desires — and it gets them out of our system. Like, how many nights have I spent a full hour watching those food videos on Facebook of creamy pasta everything, only to make roasted veggies and brown rice when it’s actually time for dinner?
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Because I guarantee eating this pizza wouldn’t feel good, physically or psychologically. But watching it be made and watching someone else eat it (while being able to imagine every single flavor in the pizza — like literally, can’t you practically taste it?) still feels fulfilling in a weird way.
“These recipes aren’t necessarily healthy and aren’t meant to be a new way of life; they are to calm the cravings during a cheat day or a stressful day, etc. Think of it as non-alcoholic beer,” Lambiase said.
And I think that’s the perfect analogy. Some people think of these videos as the dark side of food porn, a sign that millennials have ruined haute cuisine and we’re all going to hell in a Flamin’ Hot Cheetos-lined handbasket.
But Lambiase knows the real reason we watch these videos — to stop ourselves from actually engaging in that dark alternate reality. I can happily munch on my lemon pepper tofu and sprouted quinoa salad, as long as I know that somewhere out there, a Cheetos-dusted pulled pork mac and cheese pizza exists. Sometimes, it’s all you need.
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