Culture | Bytes of bites

What do feta, cucumbers and cottage cheese have in common?

Social media and the internet are changing how people cook and relate to food

This illustration shows a cracked egg, with its yolk and egg white spilled onto a flat surface. Two halves of the brown eggshell are placed on either side of the spill, and the yolk forms a triangle-like shape.
Illustration: Carl Godfrey

FIRST THEY came for the eggs. Then the feta cheese, caviar, cottage cheese and cucumbers. In some countries, these ingredients even sold out: Iceland experienced a shortage of cucumbers, and feta briefly vanished from grocery-store shelves. The reason for the raids? Aficionados of online cooking were eager to recreate viral videos in which each of these ingredients starred.

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