TikToker Jeremy Scheck Reveals His Farmer's Market Tips And Tricks - Exclusive Interview
If you are on the cooking side of TikTok, you've come to the right place. TikTok has become the new platform for all things food, producing recipes like Hailey Bieber's pizza toast and the viral baked feta pasta. With these amazing recipes and hacks come some skilled cooks and bakers that TikTok audiences have fully embraced and turned into stars. Jeremy Scheck, with 2.1 million followers, has become one of those influencers.
During an exclusive interview, Jeremy told Mashed his current go-to recipes, farmer's market tips, and even advice on people who are looking to get into food content creation. He also spilled the details on his first upcoming cookbook. The TikToker spent time in Newell's Creative Kitchen, which is a hub (or a creative-cooking playground) for content creators (per the company's press release). Scheck thought up two new recipes in the kitchen: Farmer's Market Hummus and All the Veggies Pasta Primavera, if you're looking for some summer food ideas.
Here's what Jeremy buys at the Farmer's Market
Can you tell me a little bit about your experience cooking in Newell's Creative Kitchen?
I had a great experience in Hoboken a couple weeks ago for the opening of the kitchen. There's so much fun equipment to work with and it's in such a fun location. It's a dream space for innovation and creativity. I was so excited to get to work on two recipes that were inspired by farmer's markets, which are my happy place. With spring coming back, I was so excited to be back in the farmer's market season and get to explore those ingredients and use all the fun Newell equipment. It was a great experience.
What are your go-to foods to buy at the Farmers Market?
I feel like I never really have a single go-to because it really depends on what is in season and what looks good at that time. I never really go with a list in mind, which is how I structured the recipes that I made in the Newell kitchen. The recipes were all about being able to swap things out. If it was originally a hummus recipe, but you couldn't find beets, you could always find a really delicious head of garlic and roast that instead, or [use] red peppers, and you could have roasted red pepper hummus. If you were making the pasta salad in the summer, instead of the spring, you might want to use cherry tomatoes, fresh corn instead of asparagus, and the Peppadew peppers, which is what I chose, or the peas.
Because you don't really have a go-to food that you particularly buy, is it difficult coming up with so many recipes each week for your fans?
It makes it more intuitive. To me, it would be more difficult to begin with a recipe in mind. It's easier to see what looks good and then use that as a springboard, as opposed to beginning with an end in mind.
Jeremy's favorite recipes depend on his mood
I saw that you had the farmer's market hummus recipe and the All the Veggies Pasta Primavera recipe. What inspired those?
I wanted things that honored farmer's markets in this season, but were also really adaptable because that's how I cook, and [it falls under] my philosophy. I like things to be really adaptable. When people see recipes, sometimes they get too hung up on, "Oh, I don't have this one ingredient" or, "Oh, I don't like beets," and then they think they can't make the whole thing. Being really clear about the ways that you can switch it up to fit your needs was something that I wanted to highlight with those recipes.
That's really great advice for people who are starting out as well. Do you have a favorite pasta recipe or anything of the sort?
It really depends on my mood. A really good Bolognese sauce is always amazing, but to me, that's more of a wintry dish. Something lighter and fresher is always great when it's warmer out. I love ... There's a recipe called Spaghetti alla Nerano. It uses lightly fried zucchini and Provolone cheese, and you [...] blend that together with pasta water, and then top it with crispy zucchini. It's really good for the summer.
I love watching your pasta recipe videos. They're really great. Do you have any tips for people who may be new to shopping at a farmer's market?
One of the biggest pleasures about being at a farmer's market is actually being able to interact with the people who are growing your food. That's something that we are so disconnected from when you go to a regular grocery store. I always like to talk to the sellers and ask if I don't know what something is. I say, "How would you cook this?" "What do you recommend?" "What's good today?" It helps demystify what could be an overwhelming experience when you have so many amazing options.
Jeremy reveals the two recipes he can't get enough of right now
Do you have an easy go-to recipe that you always have to make? It could be either with farmer's market ingredients or in general. I know you mentioned you go based on your mood, but is there anything you find yourself making more?
When I think of go-to, absolute quick easy recipes, the first things that come to mind are — one is fried rice because you can use any protein that you have left over in the fridge. If you have extra chicken or a little bit of tofu, you could always throw that in or you can use eggs. I use, usually, frozen vegetables for that. In college, that's such a staple.
The other thing that I was thinking of, which leans a little more [toward] farmers market season is I've been making this frittata, like a Spanish omelet dish. I don't know what to call it. It's half and half, but it's basically like a frittata with potatoes. I put lots of fresh herbs, then I put it under the broiler. I start it on the stove and put it on the boiler, and I have sliced tomatoes on top. You can really put any vegetables in it, which is the fun part.
Are those recipes that you've posted on TikTok already?
The fried rice [is something] I've done videos on, more than one. I'm saving [the frittata] for my book.
Oh, that's really exciting. What is one cooking tool that you just always have to have in your kitchen, no matter what?
I always need to have a good silicone spatula, because it's really versatile. One of my favorite things to use is a good blender — an Oster blender's great. I like things that are versatile and that can be used for multiple things, [which could include] a Calphalon stainless steel bakeware set ... Things that are really versatile versus single use.
Jeremy spills the details on his new cookbook
You mentioned a book. What upcoming projects do you have coming up? Could you tell me more about this cookbook?
This is exciting for me because it is very recent that I can talk about it. I had a cookbook idea since my freshman year of college, and I [am planning to graduate this year]. It's been a while and I've been working on it for a really long time, but we just finalized the deal in the last couple weeks.
It's going to be very similar to the content that I make on TikTok and on my website. It actually is going to lean heavily into the concepts that I was talking about with the adaptability and swapping and showing people that although there are recipes you can follow, and if you follow them to this tee, that's great. [It] also hopefully [empowers] people to do their own thing.
How has content creation on TikTok evolved your skills as a cook?
My grandma's an artist, [and] my mom is an interior designer, so I've grown up around very visual people. Thinking about how things look ... We eat with our eyes first, so it helps. For example, if I'm cooking for myself, I wouldn't necessarily chop up parsley to give the pop of color. The thing is, it actually tastes better when you do. When I am conscious about people seeing what I'm making, I actually make it better than I would if it was private.
Why Jeremy thinks TikTok is a good jumping off point for creators
That makes a lot of sense. Do you have an absolute favorite TikTok food trend? It's hard because there's so many.
There's so many. I love when people are doing what is unique for them and what really drives them, especially if it's people doing their own cultural dishes. I love making my grandmother's collar recipe.
Do you have any advice for new people looking to get into food content creation online?
I hope it doesn't sound cliché, but you have to put yourself out there and really do it. You can't establish a presence without being consistent and without physically creating it. It can feel scary and awkward to make videos when no one's really watching, but that outlook does a disservice to my generation. We are so self-conscious about that kind of thing, and it's embarrassing until it's not, because once people see what you're doing and it garners all of a sudden, it's really cool instead of feeling like it's cringey to put yourself out there.
How long does it take for you to create a video? I know it probably depends on the recipe, but I was wondering what the process was behind that?
In general, if it took me an hour to make a recipe that I wasn't filming, it would probably take me an hour and a half to film it. It adds a little bit of time. It's a little more awkward because I have to step around the lights and the camera. Because these are one minute videos, and I do all the editing and stuff myself, luckily, to edit a one minute video is not that time consuming. I don't think I could do YouTube on my own if I had to edit a ten minute video or longer. I would need help because that feels like it's an exponential amount of work. To cut the footage down to one minute is something that I've gotten very efficient at, so it doesn't take me that long.
Learn more about Newell Creative Kitchen on their website, and head to Jeremy's TikTok page for creative recipe ideas.