+
Pop Culture

Behold 'watermelon pizza,' TikTok's latest and weirdest food trend

Suddenly pineapple doesn't feel so controversial.

watermelon pizza, watermelon pizza TikTok
Canva

Would you try it?

Just when you think that all flavors of pizza have been created, guess again. A new version has rolled out and it’s taking the internet by storm.

Its name? Watermelon pizza. You read that right. Watermelon + pizza. It’s a thing.

watermelon pizza TikTokWatermelon Sugar GIF by Harry StylesGiphy

You might be picturing watermelon as the topping in this unique dish—much like its fruity predecessor, the pineapple. But no. As the creator of watermelon pizza, Oliver Paterson, reveals in his now viral TikTok, the juicy fruit actually serves as the crust.

There are a few key details that make this recipe work, as Paterson, known on TikTok as @elburritomonster, explained to Fox News.


First, the watermelon has to be grilled on both sides for five minutes prior to toppings, to “remove as much moisture as possible to avoid a soggy mess,” according to Paterson.


It’s also “vital” to substitute the standard tomato-based sauce with barbecue sauce, as “BBQ is already a tried and tested flavor combination with watermelon.” (I for one did not know this to be true, but sweet and tangy is a pretty unbeatable combo.)

@elburritomonster

I can’t actually recommend this enough

♬ Watermelon Sugar - Paul Moonlight

Lastly, Paterson swaps out chorizo for the usual pepperoni. Then, voila. You have a dish that “tastes sweet and smoky, with fatty salty richness,” he told Fox News.

However, get just one of these three things wrong and the results are less than fruitful. This was the case for Domino’s Pizza in Australia when it tried and hilariously failed to recreate Paterson’s recipe in its own TikTok video.

@dominosau

Y’all keep asking us for a low carb option 😏🍕Nah fr when we saw @elburritomonster make a watermelon pizza, we HAD to give it a go.

♬ original sound - Domino’s Australia

Unsurprisingly, watermelon pizza has sparked a heated culinary debate online. Comments were across the board on this one, ranging between “I’m calling 911” to “I mean… add melted cheese to anything and it would be delicious.”

No one seems to agree on the legitimacy of this new flavor combination. Still, watermelon has undoubtedly done the impossible—using it for pizza has put an end to the war on pineapple.

“Suddenly pineapple on pizza isn’t so bad,” one person admitted in the comments.

Another conceded, “Pineapple on pizza is normal compared to this.”

There you have it, folks. Watermelon isn’t just for outdoor picnics and a Harry Styles song. Not anymore.

Paterson seems to know a thing or two about creating quirky snack options. His TikTok is an online buffet of unique food creations—in particular, epic burritos.

You name it, and the guy has somehow turned it into a burrito. I’m not kidding.

Like this Scotch egg burrito:

@elburritomonster

Would you eat a Chorizo Scotch Egg and Chicken Burrito? 😅

♬ Gone up in Flames - Morning Runner

Why choose between a Scotch egg and a burrito, when you can have both?

Or this made-with-leftovers burrito:

@elburritomonster

Best use of leftover KFC 😋

♬ Paper Planes - M.I.A.

Un-clucking-believable.

And here's beef Wellington in burrito form:

@elburritomonster

Have a look at the recipe if you’re in the mood for a ✨ fancy✨ Beef Welly Burrito 😁

♬ original sound - Elburritomonster

The cooking instructions are sung to Billie Eilish, no less.

As for his watermelon pizza, it might become a passing internet trend, as so many things on TikTok are. Or, it might surpass the Hawaiian, who knows? The only thing to know for sure is that life is about all kinds of experimentation.

Sponsored

ACUVUE launches a new campaign to inspire Gen Z to put down their phones and follow their vision

What will you create on your social media break? Share it at #MyVisionMySight.

True

If you’ve always lived in a world with social media, it can be tough to truly understand how it affects your life. One of the best ways to grasp its impact is to take a break to see what life is like without being tethered to your phone and distracted by a constant stream of notifications.

Knowing when to disconnect is becoming increasingly important as younger people are becoming aware of the adverse effects screen time can have on their eyes. According to Eyesafe Nielsen, adults are now spending 13-plus hours a day on their digital devices, a 35% increase from 2019.1. Many of us now spend more time staring at screens on a given day than we do sleeping which can impact our eye health.

Normally, you blink around 15 times per minute, however, focusing your eyes on computer screens or other digital displays have been shown to reduce your blink rate by up to 60%.2 Reduced blinking can destabilize your eyes’ tear film, causing dry, tired eyes and blurred vision.3

Keep ReadingShow less

Australian comedy group Axis Of Awesome

Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran was found not liable on April 4 in a lawsuit where he was accused of stealing elements of the Marvin Gaye classic "Let's Get It On" for his 2014 hit, “Thinking Out Loud."

The case called attention to the fact that there are motifs and musical structures common in pop music that no one owns, and all are free to use. When it comes to chord progressions, the 12-bar blues and basic I, IV, V, I progressions you hear in country and folk have been used and reused since people first picked up the guitar.

In the wrong hands, the progressions can result in music that is boring and formulaic, but in the right hands, they can be a springboard for fresh ideas.

Keep ReadingShow less

Two kids wearing backpacks walk to school together.

Over the past 40 years, a sea change has occurred in how kids get to school. Throughout most Western countries, an increasing number of children are driven to school instead of walking or taking a bike. In a new video called “Why did kids stop walking to school?” About Here’s founder, Uytae Lee, cites the U.S. Department of Transportation statistic that in 1969, 48% of kids walked or biked to school, and that number has plummeted to just 11%.

Uytae Lee is an urban planner and videographer passionate about sharing stories about our cities. The video was produced in partnership with TransLink, Metro Vancouver's regional transportation authority.

Keep ReadingShow less

Can we bring back some 50s fridge features, please?

There are very few things that would make people nostalgic for the 1950s. Sure, they had cool cars and pearl necklaces were a staple, but that time frame had its fair share of problems, even if "Grease" made it look dreamy. Whether you believe your life would've been way more interesting if you were Danny Zuko or not, most would agree their technology was...lacking.

All eras are "advanced" for their time, but imagine being dropped off in the 50s as someone from the year 2023. A recent post by Historic Vids on Twitter of a 1956 commercial advertising a refrigerator, however, has some people thinking that when it came to fridges, maybe they were living in the year 2056. I don't typically swoon over appliances, yet this one has me wondering where I can purchase a refrigerator like this.

Of course, there's no fancy touch screen that tells you the weather and asks how you'd like your ice cubed. It's got more important features that are actually practical.

Keep ReadingShow less
Canva

The innovative procedure is performed in utero and guided by ultrasound.

Fetal surgery is undoubtedly a complicated and delicate procedure, with both physical and ethical implications. It’s rarely even an option for treatment, only being done for a select number of conditions and only for pregnant women who meet certain criteria.

And still, doctors at two Boston hospitals stepped forward to repair a malformed blood vessel in a baby girl’s brain two days before she was born, succeeding in the first ever surgery of its kind.

The baby, named Denver Coleman, suffered from vein of Galen malformation (VOGM), a rare abnormality where blood vessels connect directly to veins rather than capillaries, affecting the blood vessels’ ability to carry oxygenated blood from the heart to the brain. The resulting surge of blood pressure can lead to major health issues like congestive heart failure, losing brain tissue or an enlarged head.
Keep ReadingShow less
Family

Parents see their lives in hilariously relatable end-of-school-year 'Maycember' parody

The Earth, Wind & Fire "September" parody is a hit with harried parents.

"Maycember"—busy like December but without the fun holidays.

For parents of school-aged kids, May is absolute mayhem and there are very few ways around it. May is the culmination of everything—concerts, recitals, award ceremonies, finals, end-of-school-year picnics, spring sports and a dozen other things that seem to sneak up on you until one day you look at your calendar for the month and weep.

Oh, and by the way, have you signed your kids up for summer camps yet?

May is just…a lot. It's akin to the busyness of the December holiday season, but without all the pretty lights and holiday spirit to carry you through it.

In their signature style, The Holderness Family has captured the reality of "Maycember" in a video parody of Earth, Wind & Fire's "September." The Holdernesses have brought us many funny and relatable videos about a range of realities, from people's mid-pandemic Wordle obsession to GenX welcoming millennials to the over-40 club, and now they've got their fingers on the pulse of parents pulling their hair out with end-of-school-year scheduling.

Check out "Maycember":

No wonder they put Mother's Day in May. (Although it's a little hard to enjoy it when you're up to your eyeballs in all the things.)

Judging by the comments, they hit the nail on the head.

"Oh hi there, I see you made a documentary about my life right now! 🤪"

"Great video. Plus, all of the spring yard chores. When is there time for pickleball?"

"Yep facts! 💯! Everything is true and accurate scary accurate. Thanks for the camp reminder 😁"

"The BEST one yet! I didn't know if I should laugh or cry....maybe a little of both. Good to know our family isn't going thru this alone! POWER TO THE PARENTS!!! (and teachers....thanks for all you do!)"

"My kids are grown and have moved out but oh my goodness do I remember the month of May all through their school years. Everything is packed into that one month. I always remember how busy we were. There are days I don’t miss it but there are days that I do! Well done!"

Hang in there, parents. May may be mayhem, but it'll be over soon. (And seriously, get on those summer camps now if you haven't yet. Those things fill up in a blink.)

A woman expresses her frustrations with her partner in a therapist's office.

When learning a new language, one of the most challenging things is picking up figures of speech, or idioms. The big reason is that a lot of them don’t make sense.

Aaron Alon had a lot of fun with funny idioms from around the globe, including 70 from 28 different languages, in a video called "Communication Problems.” Alon is an award-winning composer, writer, director, filmmaker and teacher who shares his talents on his YouTube channel.

The video features a couple sharing their relationship problems with a therapist while speaking in idioms from other countries in American English. While the couple talks in incomprehensible expressions, their approximate English meanings and the country from which they originate are shown in the subtitles.

Keep ReadingShow less