The Internet Loves Watching Grandmothers Cook

Nana, Gram, Abuela, Mamaw, Oma — whatever you like to call her, there's a universal love language that almost all grandmas are best at sharing, and it's food. Passing down Grandma's favorite desserts, traditional recipes, and time-honored cooking techniques, these maternal figures are taking the internet by storm with their authenticity and wholesomeness in the kitchen. There's just something inherently special about an unwritten family recipe that only Grandma knows the secret ingredients for, handing it off to the next generation gracefully and adorably. It's even better when you can capture these moments in video format to look back on fondly.

Whatever corner of the culinary net you end up on, you'll likely find grannies from all over the globe sharing their expertise with those curious enough to hit the play button. Hailing from Italy, Nonnie Nerina and her granddaughter Chiara host their own small, intimate online cooking courses that shed light on their rich culture. Queens native and food journalist, Caroline Shin, created a web series that showcases not only her own grandma's cooking stories, but also those of other grandmas from Africa, India, The Philippines, and much more. And of course, we can't forget the iconic Mexican abuelita, Doña Ángela, who amassed a whopping 1.3 million subscribers to her YouTube cooking channel after only being online for a month (via Guilty Eats). There's clearly a deep fascination with Grandma's cooking that we simply can't get enough of, and there's a good reason for that.

She might be quietly humming in the comfort of her home while crafting a delicious meal for the family. Or maybe she's doing some intense stirring on an enormous outdoor wok like the Punjabi granny chef of Veg Village Food. No matter the scale, a Grandma's home cooking strikes a chord in us that can teach us something new or bring us back to our roots. Hannah Giorgis explained that around the holidays, these comfort food accounts, like Grandma Babs on TikTok, see a lot of traffic "when younger users may be aching for familial connections they lost, or never had" (via The New York Times). 

Some grandchildren prefer to document a grandmother's legacy in great detail, focusing on her stories, commentary, and tender reflections made while cooking, rather than focusing on the food itself. The acclaimed web series, Grandmas Project, does an outstanding job of this, inviting creators to send in personal videos of their own gourmet grandmas. Waves of nostalgia, entertainment, and the occasional lighthearted silliness are all wrapped into short segments, and viewers get to experience a small glimpse into the real lives of these incredible women. So the next time you bite into your gram-gram's homemade pasta or heavenly apple pie, take a moment to ask if there are any good stories behind her recipes. Who knows? You might just get inspired enough to record it for posterity too.