Cooking craze grips social media during lockdown but is it a temporary fad?

Short cooking videos lasting less than a minute were an instant hit, giving people the confidence to experiment with dishes they would otherwise think twice about

A screengrab of 'foodhunter' Instagram cooking video.

Most of us have tried our hand at a new activity during the lockdown and cooking has been the most popular pastime irrespective of age or gender. With social media at their fingertips, people have been busy searching for good recipes to get over their boredom. 

"People think cooking is complicated and it takes a lot of time and effort to make a good meal. This is not true. I used to travel and post food videos from restaurants across Kerala and other metros. But after the lockdown was imposed, I had to come up with something creative and I thought why not post cooking videos which were less than a minute. The response was terrific," said Ummer Sabu, a popular food vlogger. 

These short videos were an instant hit, giving people the confidence to experiment with dishes they would otherwise think twice about. 

"I receive hundreds of messages on social media sites where I post cooking videos and most of them are from people thanking me for sharing such recipes during the lockdown. People who are stressed out by staying indoors during the lockdown have found cooking to be an amazing activity to keep themselves busy," said Chef Suresh Pillai, a participant of BBC's MasterChef in 2017, who posts videos of lip-smacking dishes from Kerala which have taken social media by storm. 

View this post on Instagram

Puttu and Green Gram Curry..! #Recipe A comforting simple and easy Dal curry for Breakfast. Goes well with Puttu or Chappathi. #coronacooking Green Gram/ Cheru Payar Washed and Soaked - 250 GM Boil with enough water and salt keep aside To paste Coconut- 150 GM Turmeric -5 GM Green chilies - 2 Cumin seeds- 10 GM Blend together to a fine paste and add to the green Gram and bring to one boil. Tempering Coconut oil - 50ml Mustard seeds -5gm Whole Red chilli- 2 Shallots round slice -2 Curry leaf few Check the seasoning Tips *Soack the dal for 30-40 minutes and pressure cook for 3 whistle *Pinch of Desi Ghee in the end give an extra flavour തെക്കോട്ട് പുട്ടിന്റെ കൂടെ പയർ എന്ന് പറഞ്ഞാൽ പുഴുങ്ങിയതാണ് കിട്ടുക എന്നാൽ മലബാറിൽ പുട്ടിനോടൊപ്പം ഒരു ചെറുപയർ കറിയുണ്ട് ഉഗ്രൻ സ്വാദാണ്. കോഴിക്കോട്ട്കാരാണ് ഇത് ഏറ്റവും നന്നായി ചെയ്യുന്നത്.. തീർച്ചയായും വീട്ടിൽ തയ്യാറാകുക, എല്ലാവർക്കും ഇത് ഇഷ്ടപെടും..!!

A post shared by Suresh Pillai (@chef_pillai) on Mar 26, 2020 at 5:14am PDT

However, it’s not clear whether the sudden craze to try out new dishes during the lockdown will continue after the situation returns to normal and food delivery options are available. 

"Although cooking needs some effort, it is a healthy option to stay fit. But this trend is temporary and once people are back to their normal lives, they will choose to order rather than cook due to lack of time," said Chef Pillai. 

"Given the amount of time spent by people online during the lockdown, massive subscriptions to food vlogging sites were observed. Post lockdown however, the number of followers or subscribers to such sites may not increase the way it did in the past two months and the viewership for such videos will almost certainly take a hit," said Kevin Binu Varughese, a corporate and digital communications consultant. 

Restaurants will probably be hoping that the trend does not continue as they have suffered heavy losses during the lockdown. 

View this post on Instagram

@lekshminair20 , മലയാളികൾ ഏറ്റവും കൂടുതൽ പേർ ഉണ്ടാക്കി പരീക്ഷിച്ചു നോക്കിയിട്ടുണ്ടാവുക ഇവരുടെ റെസിപ്പി ആയിരിക്കും. ഒരു സിംപിൾ ചെമ്മീൻ കുടംപുളി ഇട്ടത്. Prawns curry with malabar tamarind Ingredients: 1) Prawns : 1/2 kg 2) Ginger ( chopped) : 1.5 tbsp 3) Shallots ( Julienne cutting ) : 1/2 cup 4) Green chilly : 2 5) Chilly powder : 1.5 tbsp 6) Coriander powder : 1.5tbsp 7) Turmeric powder : .5 tsp 8) Malabar tamarind : 4 pieces 9) Coconut milk ( 2nd milk) : 2.5 cup 10) Coconut milk ( 1st milk ) : 1/2 cup 11) Salt : as per requirement Ingredients for tempering : 12) Coconut oil : 1.5 tbsp 13) Mustard : .5tsp 14) Dried red chilly : 3 nos. 15) Shallots (sliced) : 4 nos. 16) Curry leaves : 2 How to make : 1) In a clay pot, add ingredients 1-9 & 11 and boil 2) Boil untill the gravy is reduced to half and add 1st coconut milk ,boil it and then remove the pot from burner 3) Temper ingredients 13-16 in coconut oil and pour in to the gravy. #foodhits #foodblogfeed #indianblogger #foodblogger #foodhunter_sabu #keraladiaries #malayalis #mallutrolls #malluquotes #instamood #instaart #instafood #indianinfluencer #london #dubai #qatar #malluworld #ride #kairali

A post shared by foodhunter_sabu (@foodhunter_sabu) on Apr 19, 2020 at 12:25am PDT

"While everyone might assume that small makeshift food joints and tea stall vendors will be affected the most, at least in Kerala I do not think this would be the case. The state government has provided people with essentials so that no one stays hungry. While they might not earn during this time, they will not starve. That is not the scenario with multi-kitchen restaurants. Post lockdown they will have to face issues like shortage in labour, maintaining social distancing and hygiene," said Ummer Sabu.