The Viral TikTok Italian Burger That's Practically Inedible
There's an interesting dichotomy between dishes at restaurants and homemade recipes that go viral on TikTok. For a recipe to go viral on TikTok, it has to be simple enough for large groups of people to make, but also feature a new "hack" or interesting technique. The feta pasta is a perfect example of this phenomenon. Not only was the ingredient list very short for this recipe (garlic, tomatoes, feta, basil, and pasta), but plopping a block of feta in the middle of the pan and baking it went against every instinct how to make pasta, so it was simultaneously exciting and nerve-wracking (via Grilled Cheese Social).
On the flip side, for dishes at restaurants to go viral, the more over the top, the better. The Red Chickz, a Nashville hot chicken restaurant in Los Angeles, joined TikTok in 2019 and now has over 1 million followers because they make hilariously oversized sandwiches and are never afraid to add too much sauce (per Bon Appétit). One burger shop in Italy took a page out of The Red Chickz' book and just went viral on TikTok for a decadent burger, but not for the reasons they hoped.
TikTok was questioning the doneness of the burger and the amount of toppings
Black Burger Frattamaggiore in Campania, Italy has nearly 125,000 followers on TikTok because of their over-the-top burgers, desserts, and appetizers piled high with fried foods. The restaurant recently posted a viral video (over 12 million views) of how they make the over-the-top "Roll Burger," which is the burger of the month for August. This towering burger is topped with basil mayo, prosciutto crudo di Parma, and a buffalo mozzarella pinwheel stuffed with sundried tomatoes, greens, and Grana Padano cheese (via Facebook).
You would think that one of these pinwheels would be sufficient to top the burger, but TikTokers were in shambles when the restaurant piled the burger with three of them. "How are we supposed to eat that? By dislocating the jaws for example," commented one user. "One piece of mozzarella would have been enough son," commented another TikToker. TikTok users were also concerned with the doneness of the burger, as it looked like it was only on the flat top for a few seconds in the video. "I think that burger was still mooooing when you put it on the bun," said one TikToker. User @mattgripi made a duet of the video and also pointed out that it looked like the restaurant cooked the burger for "one second." "Cook it for one second" REALLY GOT ME," commented one TikToker.