Food - News
The Untold Truth Of TikTok's The Pasta Queen
By EMILY CAPPIELLO
TikTok star The Pasta Queen was born Nadia Caterina Munno and grew up in Rome, Italy, which contributes to the recipes that she shares. What’s more interesting is that the title of The Pasta Queen is based on her background, because her great-great-grandparents actually started a pasta factory around the Naples area back in the 1800s, which had to be shut down during World War II.
Munno notes that her inspiration for doing videos came from her interest in hosting large, Italian dinner parties, and TikTok helped her become famous when she started making the videos during the lockdown. She said on the “Talking With My Mouth Full” podcast, “I was extremely happy to just be cooking in my kitchen, and me and my brother and my cousin just started filming.”
Although The Pasta Queen is the center of her social media content, her Pasta Bro, Agostino, steals the show sometimes. Agostino is her own brother, who adds character to the videos with his expressions, and Munno’s father, “Pappa Pasta” Antonio, has also made a few appearances in the videos.
Munno’s trademark is a hair flip while saying the word “ingredients,” which has caught the attention of her fans everywhere. She says that the hair flip started because she loves dramatic telenovelas and plot twists, saying that it makes everything “just a little more dramatic.”
Though it might sound obvious, Munno really loves pasta — she recently revealed that her favorite recipes include pasta with peas. She also revealed that the classic lemon pasta that she makes is also one of her most popular recipes, although it’s an old recipe that she has put her own spin on by adding heavy cream.