The other day a couple of friends of mine started a discussion surrounding an image that was circulating online. It’s basically one of those “the more you’ve tried, the younger you are” type of deals.
So I’m a Gen Xer. I wear that proudly. I love my sarcasm, my people, my music and my movies. I am a huge Stranger Things fan, not only because it is damn good storytelling but also because IT IS MY CHILDHOOD.
That all being said, I still try to stay as current as I can. Mostly because I want to relate to my kids. Not that it is working for me, but that’s another blog post entirely.
So anyway, along comes this “How Millennial Are You?” food post which sent me right into an internet wormhole of wonder (and disgust).
And just in case you’ve also been left scratching your head, here’s a bit of what I discovered…
Ramen Burger
You guys, this perplexed me right off the bat. Was it a burger made of ramen noodles? Is it vegan? Is it crunchy? Were the noodles even cooked?
So. Many. Questions.
Apparently we owe the existence of this food fad to a guy named Keizo Shimamoto, who in 2013, famously gave the world the ramen burger aka beef in between noodles. I have no idea why this came about but I do know that it has its own Instagram feed. Because, of course.
If it intrigues you and you’d like to give it a try (and would rather not travel to California or New York) I recommend this ramen burger recipe by Not Quite Nigella. It seems to be a bit of work but the recipe makes it sound delish!
Boba
I had no clue what the hell this was until I Googled it. And then I got intrigued because it didn’t seem as disgusting as the name implied. Upon further inspection, I realized that I’ve actually tried it before. (Score one more millennial point for me!)
So what is it exactly? Bobas are the tiny, chewy black balls at the bottom of a tea-ish drink made from tapioca. This whole chewy ball phenomenon originated in tea shops in Taiwan during the 1980s.
It is also known as “bubble tea” by the way.
If you are intrigued, this recipe I found from Oh How Civilized looks hella good and easy to accomplish.
Boba may seem a bit weird at first but once you get used to it you’ll probably find it darn tasty.
Mermaid Toast
Okay first of all, I am a fan of all things mermaid, bread and Instagram so not quite sure how I missed this trend. Not shockingly it was invented by, you guessed it, Ariel.
Just kidding.
It was invented by a food stylist from Miami named Adeline Waugh.
How did I miss out on that option at career day? I enjoy pretty food. I like playing with my food. I like Instagram. Seems like a cool gig to me.
Anyway, sometimes I also see it referred to as unicorn toast so I guess you can call it what you will.
Apparently, the colors on the toast are made a variety of ways. For example, Waugh claims to us beet juice (pink), turmeric root (yellow and orange), chlorophyll drops (green), freeze-dried blueberry powder (purple) and spirulina powder (blue) to make her creations.
Friends, I’m gonna tap out right there. It is way more effort than I am willing to put in and, quite frankly, doesn’t sound all that yummy in the end. Also, why doesn’t she just use good ole fashioned food coloring rather than turmeric?
Bulletproof Coffee
As a coffee freak of the highest nature, I can confirm that I’d definitely heard of this before. It is purported as one of those magical wonderful high-performance drinks that CEOs, high achievers and professional athletes swear by. And Gwyneth Paltrow, natch.
I never tried it because of the whole butter and coconut oil in your coffee thing.
Yeah, it calls for that.
It was first made popular by Dave Asprey by the way, and Keto folks are huge fans of the stuff. According to the famous Dr. Oz, “this coffee swaps out sugar for butter to give you a cleaner energy boost, sharpen your mind, and improve your mood.”
Um, okay.
I’m skeptical. Also, I’m not sure I want my coworkers watching as I mix this concoction up in the break room.
Bone Broth
I’m a hard no on this one. It makes me gag every single time I think about it.
If you want to learn more, there is a great article about bone broth from The Daily Beast that I recommend you read if you want to dig deeper into this brothy trend.
A delightful snippet from a one New York City bone broth shop owner:
Makes you want to run out and sample some of his broth, doesn’t it? Read on for more gems….Everyone You Hate Loves the Bone Broth Trend
Blech.
For what its worth, I might not be very “millenial” on the reg but I’m a huge avocado toast, cauliflower rice and cronut fan.
Looks like that’ll have to do for now.
