From our special hype correspondent,
Far from colorful tomatoes, the essential potato or the superstar avocado, squash has long played the role of an ungrateful vegetable. Just an annual hype for pumpkins for five days at Halloween, which quickly died down after October. But in a miracle worthy of the best Christmas TV movie, squash, especially butternut, have become the new stars of social networks.
On TikTok, Youtube or Instagram, it’s difficult in this fall winter 2023 not to come across a cooking recipe offering butternut, pumpkin or other orange and round vegetables. Culinary videographers offer cucurbits in all forms: risoto, velouté, sauce, salad, stuffing, gnocchi… Absolutely everything is “butterable”. Hugo, videographer for the cooking channel Whoogy’smore than 600,000 subscribers on Instagram and on Tik Tok, discovered the hype last year with the surprising and spectacular success of a butternut pasta recipe video.
Endless varieties and ideas
The latter has 10 million views, by far his personal record. For comparison, “a video that works well gets around 500,000 views,” he says. Same success with Kitchen Harmony. Her butternut and feta recipe video has 380,000 views on TikTok, more than three times her number of subscribers. Her pumpkin cake, with more than 300,000 views, has also reached the top.
Which gives us a first element to understand the hype: the extreme versatility of squash: “There is a very wide variety of recipes and possible variations,” notes Nathalie Louisgrand, teacher-researcher specializing in gastronomy at Grenoble École de Management. . It is possible to create sweet or savory recipes, to make butternut the main element of the dish or just an accompaniment. »
And this is precisely what the viewer is looking for, deciphers Hugo: “The squash was not shunned, it’s just that people didn’t know how to cook it, once they had made a velouté and a puree. This is why videos on squash work so well: we respond to a need by offering recipe ideas using an unused product. » A breath of fresh air also in the vegetable aisle, adds Nathalie Peyrebonne, lecturer at Paris 3-Sorbonne Nouvelle University and specialist in representations of food. “The development of vegetarianism and veganism pushes us to look for more and more different foods, and partly explains the strong comeback of squash, which was quite forgotten for a while. »
Cheap to buy, not boring to cook
The level of difficulty for cooking it is also extremely adaptable, praises Nathalie Louisgrand: “The butternut can allow ultra-basic recipes that any amateur knows how to make, as well as very complex dishes à la Philippe Etchebest” For the recipe for pasta with butternut from Hugo, simply cut the squash in half, square it and put it in the oven with garlic and olive oil, then mix it. Nothing too rocket science then.
The softness of the product is also reflected on the receipt. “The success of squash is also due to its price: around 2.5 euros per kilo,” estimates Jean-Baptiste Dufief, home chef. He too has noticed a strong comeback for squash, particularly on social networks where he advertises it, far from the image of the past: “It was considered a non-noble vegetable because it grows abundantly and easily. » Even he offers it as a potential starter on his Christmas menu.
All tastes and THE color
But the real added value of the squash on social networks is more due to its color: this firecracker orange or even downright fluorescent. “The visual takes precedence because in video, there is neither taste nor smell,” recalls Hugo. This bright orange makes squash dishes extremely aesthetic, and is sure to catch the eye in a video thumbnail. »
A truly fascinating orange, continues Nathalie Peyrebonne: “It is a very bright color, a symbol of energy, sun, light, and which stands out even more with those of other seasonal vegetables such as leek or radishes, much more bland and austere in terms of appearance. »
Grandma’s kitchen
Flashy and healthy, another big trend of the time. It is up to Jean Baptiste Dufief to present the nutritional qualities of the flagship product: “The squashes have won over consumers because they are very low in calories, good for your health, full of vitamins in particular C and E, as well as anti-oxidant properties. »
Finally, if butternut and other squash are the stars of social networks so 2023, it is through nostalgia that they shine. “For several years, and even more so since Covid, there has been a strong comeback of slow-cooked cuisine reminiscent of the land and the home, what we could roughly call ‘grandmother’s cooking’. The squash fits in well,” concludes Nathalie Peyrebonne. It seems that the best butternut soups are made in old pots.