From bubble skirts to “cookie butter brown” hair to bows all over, microtrends have inundated our lives and media feeds. And, in such an interconnected world (an ironic “innovation” which has fostered more division than connection), trend asceticism induces some serious FOMO. I should know: I’ve fallen victim to more influencer ads than I care to confess.
This November, beside the traditional canned cranberries, casseroles and cornbread came a new side: the novel “Tini’s Mac n Cheese.” On Nov. 2, the chef and cookbook author, Tineke, shared her rendition of a classic dish. 83M views, 8.6M likes and no more than three weeks later, she became a household name. So, how did this traction arise? And, have some taken another trend too far?
After some success on the second season of Next Level Chef and her release of a cookbook in 2023, Tini has earned the attention of fellow chefs and Fox fans alike. She has since taken off on various sites for iconic cuisines and adorable romance with her now husband. Talented as Tini is, mac and cheese is a rather uninvolved dish. Directions are embedded in the name: make macaroni, add cheese. Where did she deviate from tradition?
There are a few recommendations the chef makes to elevate the historical side. For one, Tini favors corkscrew macaroni. Counter to a shell or farfalle (bow-tied), corkscrew bestows more surface area cheese can sink into. In addition, she recommends a blocked cheese, shredded later at home. Troublesome and tedious as this feels, Tini claims the pre-shredded stuff has a film which leaves the sauce coarse. Her unconventional use of mustard, she details, counters the richness of the cheese sauce and creates a more balanced bite.
The masses are drawn to Tini’s exhaustive elucidation and clear command of her kitchen. So much so, her words became like Bible. Since the video’s release, corkscrew has flown off the shelves, the term “roux” has been searched 2.6M times (around double Nov. 2023) and store shredded cheese was exiled from our carts. In one viral video, two women drained over three hours and $150 to make the dish. Those same women later scolded Tini for the “terrible, time waster” results.
In no universe is mac and cheese worth $150. I’m unsure whether its absurd costs are due to location choice (some commenters accused the women of finding inflated costs in a Whole Foods or Erewhon to traduce Tini) or excessive demand. However, Tini has no influence on a sales tax. To defame an authentic chef for the accelerated nature of trends is insane.
We’ve seen this narrative over and over. In such an intertwined world, our favorite influencers and items will never be esoteric. We all crave the comforts of the “in circle.” We’ve all confined ourselves to the same crowd. How can we blame influencers for our own herd behavior? Like I said, I am no newbie to microtrends. I have checkered boxer shorts, UGG slides and quite a few TikTok shop items in the closet. I also asked for sambas for Christmas. Consumerism aside, a microtrend has no real harm. Still, if we never learn to endure FOMO – if we conform to trend at all costs (literal and figurative) – we will soon be consumed.
Make Tini’s mac and cheese or stick with the traditional: no one cares. When will we remember we are autonomous? There is no one to blame for our fanatical consumerism but ourselves.
