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IOL News
9 hours ago
- Entertainment
- IOL News
Nutella-wagyu has the internet divided: gourmet genius or culinary crime?
Wagyu steak soaked in Nutella. Image: Ohio Noah Google 'Nutella Wagyu' and you'll be met with a bizarre flood of videos and recipes - yes, actual recipes - pairing the rich, buttery indulgence of wagyu beef with the sweet, nutty creaminess of Nutella. And if social media is anything to go by, this chaotic pairing is very much alive and sizzling. On TikTok and Instagram Reels, creators dramatically slather Nutella over seared wagyu steaks, zooming in as the chocolate melts into the beef. In one viral video, content creator Ohio Noah coats a wagyu steak with Nutella, seasons it with salt and pepper, and fries it in a pan. The steak comes out looking perfectly cooked, but whether it tastes good is another story. Viewers weren't convinced, and many in the comments echoed a collective 'no thanks'. 'I know it's sarcasm, but it's also criminal,' one user commented. 'Why would you ruin a wagyu steak?' asked another. 'Probably the worst cooking video I've ever watched LOL,' someone else wrote. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ But that's the internet for you. In today's food content economy, shock sells. From gold-dusted wings to sushi rolls filled with flaming hot Cheetos, weird food mashups are now a digital strategy. Wagyu, prized for its intense marbling and melt-in-your-mouth texture, is considered one of the world's finest cuts of beef. It's already a flex just to cook it. But slathering it in Nutella? That's where things get murky. To some of us foodies, the pairing is an insult. Wagyu is usually prepared with care - just salt and a little butter - to let its natural flavour shine. Drenching it in a sugary spread doesn't just hide those qualities - it destroys them. So, should you try it? Unless you're chasing clicks, probably not. Even among adventurous eaters, few recommend it for the actual taste. But that's the thing: in the current age of content-first cooking, delicious isn't always the main ingredient - viral is. As one user put it: 'Awesome! I tried the peanut butter version, but I bet Nutella adds a richer flavour to the steak.' Even Gordon Ramsay weighed in back in 2021, reacting to chef Gustavo Tosta's Nutella-wagyu stunt with trademark disgust: 'Nutella on wagyu? Seriously!! You idiot, Nutella sandwich.' If you're hungry for likes, fire up the skillet. But if you're craving flavour? Maybe save the Nutella for dessert.
The Star
2 days ago
- Health
- The Star
When habit takes a toll on real life
PETALING JAYA: Every night, Aimy Nadirah tells herself it'll only take five minutes – a quick scroll through Instagram Reels after putting her daughter to bed. The five minutes turned into 50, and before she knew it, it was midnight again. CLICK TO ENLARGE 'I lead a healthy lifestyle. I run. I care for my family. I perform at work. But lately, I can't focus. My brain feels foggy and I can't even sit through a full movie,' said the 37-year-old civil engineer. Aimy only realised she was facing short video addiction (SVA) when she stumbled upon a video about it online and recognised herself. Her seven-year-old daughter had also started sneaking screen time after bedtime and reacting angrily when denied access. Across Malaysia and beyond, adults are quietly battling compulsive use of short-form content on platforms like TikTok, Instagram and Xiaohongshu – often at the expense of sleep, relationships and productivity. ALSO READ: Start intervention early to curb SVA, say experts Lecturer Ezatul Marini Mohd Ghazali noticed the habit forming in her children when they were teenagers, even before the Covid-19 pandemic. Curious, she began watching videos too and found herself falling into the same loop. 'What started as an observation slowly turned into a habit,' said Ezatul, who now has three adult children. 'It made me realise how easy it is to get caught up in something that feels so harmless.' She has since made efforts to reduce screen time as a family. 'It's not perfect, but we've seen small, steady changes,' she added. For Dayana, 41, the consequences were more immediate. As a copywriter, she used to scroll until 3am, convinced she could cope with just four hours of sleep. ALSO READ: Hooked on autoplay, infinite scrolling and dopamine hits However, she began missing client instructions and was eventually let go under a voluntary separation scheme. 'Just one more video – that lie repeated every night. It cost me my full-time job,' she said. Now freelancing, she's committed to a 10.30pm bedtime and has replaced night scrolling with books and yoga. For Paula, 44, an accounts manager in Kota Kemuning, it took nearly losing a major client to realise she must change. She now channels her energy into Tabata classes three times a week. 'The rush from exercise is slowly replacing the dopamine I got from scrolling. It's not easy, but I remind myself of the cost,' she said. A 2022 study titled 'Addiction on TikTok among Young Adults in Malaysia' found that social, family and lifestyle factors explained 63.4% of addiction levels to short-form video apps. Another study in the same year revealed that 48% of medical students at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia were excessive smartphone users, with links to anxiety and reduced quality of life. Last year, a research by Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman's Tun Tan Cheng Lock Centre found that 34% of respondents aged 16-30 spent over eight hours on screens daily, while 32% used them for five to six hours and 22% for seven to eight hours. A 2024 US-based survey by Cross River Therapy found around 70% of teens and young adults, and over half of adults aged 30-49 showed signs of social media addiction, spending a daily average of one hour and 40 minutes on these platforms.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
Twitch starts testing vertical video streams
Livestreaming service Twitch, which is owned by Amazon, announced at its annual TwitchCon event earlier this year that it would move into the vertical video space. Now those initial alpha tests have gone live with a few streamers, according to findings from market intelligence provider Appsensa. In a recent build, the firm found references to the vertical video tests and information about what sort of features these new streams would offer. The feature, once fully rolled out, would make Twitch more competitive with other popular vertical video services like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. Twitch's tests are not widespread at this point, as Appsensa's research only found a handful of references in the app's code that mentioned the tests would focus on just 'a few streamers' for the time being. (It was unable to identify which ones.) The firm was also able to identify a vertical theater mode with dedicated user interface elements and a way to toggle between Twitch's classic and new vertical video formats. When users encounter the feature for the first time, they'll be presented with user education dialogs that say 'vertical video is here,' and remind users it's still just a test and they can switch to the classic view at any time. Appsensa also noted that the current implementation includes permission handling for both the camera and microphone access, as is required by mobile platforms, indicating the app will be used for the livestreams. Reached for comment, Twitch declined to say more about the tests, only noting that the company had said during its keynote at TwitchCon Rotterdam earlier this year that it would begin testing with a small number of channels during the summer. A spokesperson added that those tests would expand to more users later in the year. During TwitchCon, the company announced it would try out dual-format and 2K streaming with a small number of channels, as well. Sign in to access your portfolio
TechCrunch
4 days ago
- TechCrunch
Twitch starts testing vertical video streams
Livestreaming service Twitch, which is owned by Amazon, announced at its annual TwitchCon event earlier this year that it would move into the vertical video space. Now those initial alpha tests have gone live with a few streamers, according to findings from market intelligence provider Appsensa. In a recent build, the firm found references to the vertical video tests and information about what sort of features these new streams would offer. The feature, once fully rolled out, would make Twitch more competitive with other popular vertical video services like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. Twitch's tests are not widespread at this point, as Appsensa's research only found a handful of references in the app's code that mentioned the tests would focus on just 'a few streamers' for the time being. (It was unable to identify which ones.) The firm was also able to identify a vertical theater mode with dedicated user interface elements and a way to toggle between Twitch's classic and new vertical video formats. When users encounter the feature for the first time, they'll be presented with user education dialogs that say 'vertical video is here,' and remind users it's still just a test and they can switch to the classic view at any time. Appsensa also noted that the current implementation includes permission handling for both the camera and microphone access, as is required by mobile platforms, indicating the app will be used for the livestreams. Reached for comment, Twitch declined to say more about the tests, only noting that the company had said during its keynote at TwitchCon Rotterdam earlier this year that it would begin testing with a small number of channels during the summer. A spokesperson added that those tests would expand to more users later in the year. During TwitchCon, the company announced it would try out dual-format and 2K streaming with a small number of channels, as well.
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'The Summer I Turned Pretty' is about teen love. Its biggest fans might be millennials.
Vicky Pazzalia was home alone on a rainy Saturday morning in July 2022 when she binged the first season of The Summer I Turned Pretty, which had recently premiered. By the end of the seventh episode of the Prime Video television series, she was hooked, texting her husband, Casey, to warn him of her new obsession. The show, which focuses on the love triangle between two teen brothers, Conrad and Jeremiah, and their longtime female family friend Belly in an idyllic summer beach town, became all that Vicky, 33, could talk about. Eventually, once Vicky had run out of TikToks, Instagram Reels and BuzzFeed articles that dissected the teen drama, her husband had a proposal: She could make her own show to talk about it. Casey, who had a background in podcasting, offered to produce it. That's how Better With Glasses, a recap podcast about The Summer I Turned Pretty, its group of fictional Gen Z teens and their exploits in Cousins Beach began. As it turns out, Vicky was only solo podcasting for one episode. Casey was quickly won over by the show too. 'He watched it so much that he started to care about it,' Vicky tells Yahoo, and Casey soon joined her as a cohost to offer a male viewpoint. Almost immediately, the Pazzalias, now both 36, began to receive long, detailed DMs and emails from millennial listeners thanking them for sharing their perspectives. Because of them, they wrote, they no longer felt silly or alone as adults obsessing over a TV show about teens. 'The podcast gave them a sense that it's OK [to talk] about [The Summer I Turned Pretty] like it's super important,' Casey tells Yahoo Entertainment. '[They said], 'It's so nice to feel seen [because] I couldn't really articulate to my friends, my family, my husband why I was so obsessed with this young girl and the boy she chooses [to be in a relationship with].'' The TV adaption of Jenny Han's young adult book series of the same name is a classic coming-of-age story of a girl who grows up within the prism of a love triangle. Belly (Lola Tung) has spent every summer at the beach house of her mom's best friend, Susannah Fisher (Rachel Blanchard). Like the first book, Season 1 begins during the summer that she turns 16 and finds herself torn romantically between Susannah's sons. Conrad (Christopher Briney) is the boy she has always loved, who's finally paying attention to her. Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno) is the boy who has always been there for her and lets her love him. This love triangle is the central arc of the show. It follows in the tradition of teen dramas of the late '90s and early aughts that came before it, including Felicity, Dawson's Creek and Gilmore Girls, which millennials grew up watching. These shows heavily emphasized romantic entanglements between the characters, a plot device used to grow and retain audiences. The Summer I Turned Pretty proves that a good love triangle still does. According to data from Parrot Analytics, the show's viewership more than tripled from Season 1 to Season 2, which premiered in July 2023. In the show's second season, Belly was finally forced to make a decision between the brothers, and as the show became more popular, fans declared fierce loyalties to Team Conrad or Team Jeremiah online. On Reddit threads about the show and in outlets like Esquire and Slate, millennials were admitting to being as 'hopelessly infatuated' with the Gen Z drama and wondering if anyone else their age felt the same way. The answer was a resounding yes. One such fan was 32-year-old Kara Crevier, who decided to launch The Summer I Started a Podcast after the second season premiered. Crevier thinks the millennial investment in Belly's story is a direct result of how the show takes the books to 'another level.' Its pitch-perfect depiction of summer days spent swimming (and flirting) in the pool and summer nights spent stealing kisses and pining for your crush at parties taps into viewers' nostalgia for their own summers past. '[The] summer vibe is really well curated throughout the entire show. … You kind of feel like you're transported onto a summer vacation when you're watching it,' Crevier tells Yahoo. '[It] brings me back to a time when I didn't have work responsibilities … or the responsibilities of life.' That feeling isn't lost on its cast members either. Jackie Chung, who plays Belly's mom, Laurel, tells Yahoo, 'People are nostalgic for that time when they are experiencing that first love and blossoming in their life.' Chung finds nostalgia to be an element that has always drawn older generations to teen-focused storylines. From her perspective, what really makes the show special is the room that it gives the adult characters to become full people, especially Laurel. In most teen shows, Chung finds that adult characters typically exist primarily 'as a parent in relation to the teen or child on the show.' The Summer I Turned Pretty stands in contrast. Yes, Laurel is a mother, but she's also still a woman exploring romantic relationships and searching for love, just like her own teenage daughter, while also striving to reach some of her career goals. She's doing all of that while making mistakes and learning from them, just like her daughter. 'It's helpful for people to see someone [like Laurel] who is a bit messy and still figuring it out but also loving her family and taking care of them,' Chung tells Yahoo. That way, when they enter adulthood, they will hopefully feel less pressure to have everything figured out because they see that growing up never ends. This complexity within the writing of the series is one of the reasons that Crevier loves the show. 'I think I really enjoyed the story of the books, but I really love how the show expands on the different characters,' Crevier says. For example, the teen characters in the show are struggling with timely themes like sexuality, identity and finances, which are largely absent from the books. The adults are also more complex. As in the book, Laurel is navigating the grief of her best friend's cancer diagnosis, but in the show she's also embracing her own strength when she dips a toe into dating after divorce and navigates her career as a writer. The depth of the adult storylines is one of the reasons that Rachel Gonvales Parkes, a 36-year-old mom of two, is also a fan. 'I love that they also show that parent dynamic of what happens when you're going through divorce, drama and hardship,' she tells Yahoo. 'You don't get that in the book. The books [are] really focused on Belly.' For Gonvales Parkes, it's also the messiness of both the teen and adult characters that makes the show relatable. As a viewer, she sees herself in Belly as a teenager, even though in her real life, she's stepped into the role of mother, like Laurel. Ultimately, Casey thinks this duality plays heavily into the show's multigenerational appeal. Millennials who are no longer teens and are also not as likely to be parents to teenagers, exist somewhere in the middle, so they can relate to 'both perspectives.' It's this relatability that has created a devoted, unabashedly obsessed millennial fanbase that is eager for the show to return for Season 3 after two years. So much so that some are gathering in person to celebrate its release. Ahead of the series' third and final season, which premieres on July 16, the Pazzalias are traveling to Wilmington, N.C., where The Summer I Turned Pretty is filmed, to meet with fellow millennials at a meet-up they've planned in connection with their podcast, called Better With Glasses Fest. They've organized a fan weekend, held July 11-13, that includes activities like a filming locations tour, live podcast taping and scavenger hunt. 'We [aren't] really expecting huge, huge [turnout], but we knew that it would draw an intimate crowd of people who are like this [millennial fandom] is our family,' Vicky says. Even though Vicky is Team Conrad, she hopes that no matter how the show ends, millennials will continue to be Team Belly, supporting the character through her misjudgments and missteps. After all, they have the experience to know it's all part of the journey.
