Latest news with #ItalianGrandmother
News.com.au
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Woman causes outrage over bizarre method for frying an egg
Another day, another food 'hack' sparking controversy online. This time, a woman has declared war on olive oil by substituting it with … cucumber juice to fry an egg. In her now-viral video (16.8 million views and counting), the Germany-based influencer demonstrated her unusual technique. She chops off the end of a cucumber and gives her frying pan a thorough rub with it. After it heats up, she cracks an egg directly into the pan. Moments later, she lifts the fully cooked egg from the pan with a spatula, effortlessly transferring it to a plate. The pan appears spotless and free from any residue or egg. 'Learnt this from an Italian grandmother and will never do it with oil again,' she wrote over the clip. Naturally, the internet responded with the calm, measured restraint it's famous for. 'As an Italian, ABSOLUTELY not. No Italian grandma would replace oil,' said one. 'My nonna would slap my a** if I don't use olive oil!' said someone else. Others chimed in, sharing that their Italian grandmothers were 'yelling this was insulting' and 'turning in their graves'. Some questioned her heritage, asking, 'Are you American?', while others called the hack 'idiotic'. Meanwhile, some viewers were more concerned that the trend demonised olive oil and calories. 'Why are we all so scared of oil?' asked one commenter. 'My eating disorder is giggling right now,' admitted another. 'I can't deal with the restriction here,' quipped a third. Others pointed out a more practical flaw – the fact that she was using a non-stick pan. 'Do a stainless steel pan and then I'll be convinced,' said one user. 'You're literally using a non-stick pan,' another echoed. It's true that you can use a splash of water as a substitute for butter when sauteing or stir-frying – especially on a non-stick pan. But whether you need a cucumber when you have access to water is another question entirely.
Daily Mail
03-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Woman causes outrage over bizarre method for frying an egg which she 'learnt from an Italian grandmother'
A woman has sparked controversy after revealing she uses cucumber water to fry an egg. The TikTok user who goes by the handle @ on the video-sharing platform recently posted a video in which she uses a cucumber instead of oil. The Germany-based influencer claimed in her video caption that she learned about the oil alternative from an unnamed 'Italian grandmother'. In her video, which has been viewed over 16.8 million times on TikTok, Jana rubs the cut end of a whole cucumber directly on the bottom of her frying pan on the stove. She then cracks an egg straight into the pan. The clip then cuts to a fully cooked egg in the frying pan, with Jana looking surprised that the 'hack' worked. She picks up her phone and swaps the camera around to film herself gently scraping the egg off the frying pan and lifting it up, before transferring it to a piece of toast on a plate. Jana then turns the camera back to the frying pan, which is completely oil-free and clean save for a few remnants of egg. In text over the video, she wrote: 'Learned this from an Italian grandmother and will NEVER do it with oil again.' Her video caption read: 'That was so smooth WHAT?' Jana's cooking tip was clearly popular, with nearly two million likes and thousands of comments on social media, but not everyone is convinced. Many viewers were sceptical about whether it was the cucumber that helped the egg to cook without sticking - or if it was, in fact, the non-stick frying pan that Jana used. 'You're using a non-stick pan, hope this helps,' one TikTok user commented. Another added: 'It's a non-stick pan, of course you could've literally used nothing and it wouldn't stick.' A third challenged: 'Do it on a stainless steel pan and then I'll be convinced.' Others questioned Jana's claim that the hack came from an Italian, with several Italian TikTok users chiming in. 'My nonna would slap my a** if I don't use the olive oil from our garden in Sicilia,' one person wrote. Viewers weighed in on the TikTok influencer's video, with many pointing out she used a non-stick pan and others lamenting what their Italian grandmothers would say about it 'And I understand why! Because it tastes 1,000 times better and it's healthy if you don't use too much.' Another said: 'As an Italian, absolutely not. No Italian grandma would replace oil.' One user went even further and said they showed the video to their Italian grandmother, who 'yelled this was insulting'. A fourth person joked that their Italian grandparents were 'turning in their graves while I watch this'. Some people worried that Jana's video meant more people were shunning the use of cooking oil out of concern for their health. It comes amid fear surrounding seed oils among Americans, after US health secretary Robert F Kennedy claimed these types of vegetable-based oils are 'poisoning' people and so-called health influencers denounced them. But Kennedy Jr isn't calling for people to use less oil or no oil at all - instead, he has urged Americans to use beef tallow or animal fat when they cook. 'Oil is healthy. I don't get why people are so scared of it,' a TikToker commented on Jana's video. The clip was also shared on X, formerly Twitter, where one person said: 'Oil does a lot more for both flavour and the cooking process than simply preventing things from sticking. 'I implore [someone] to do this with a pork chop or mushrooms and let me know how it tastes.' 'I really wish people would understand that some dose of oil is perfectly fine and healthy,' a third added. However, the influencer made it clear that she has nothing against oil and was simply sharing what she had learned. 'I love oil. But it's a fun hack. Don't worry.' In reply to a comment about there being fewer calories with her hack, Jana also clarified that she still uses oil to cook and was not interested in maintaining a calorie deficit. 'It was actually just a hack I wanted to try. I am still using oil, because it's healthy and we need it.' Using plant-based oils - such as olive, avocado, sunflower, canola, corn, and grapeseed - has been linked to better health outcomes, according to research. A 30-year study of more than 200,000 adults conducted by researchers at Harvard University found that people who cook with these types of oils instead of butter were less likely to die of any cause, including cancer and heart disease. The researchers were 'surprised' to find swapping less than a tablespoon of butter for the same amount of oil lowered the overall risk of death by 17 percent, which the team called 'a pretty huge effect on health.' They suggested this could be because seed oils are lower than butter in saturated fat, which has been linked to an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, and some forms of cancer. While it's unlikely there would be any health benefit to using a cucumber instead of oil to cook, the mild-flavoured vegetable became a surprising favourite among TikTok users thanks to recipes shared by Canadian content creator Logan Moffitt. Logan's recipes for sliced cucumbers went completely viral last year, sharing combinations such as soy sauce, chili oil, garlic, sugar and MSG, and salmon, cream cheese and everything bagel seasoning.
