It was about 12 months ago when we were first introduced to – the Turkish chef turned meme who broke the Internet with his sassy style of seasoning meat. And how we loved him! Nurset Gökçe became 2017’s first real viral sensation as his image was reproduced all over the world.
But that was then. In 2018, Salt Bae is taking a backseat to make room for Cilantro Papi, the name given to Mexican chef Rogelio Rivera who’s conquered Snapchat and now Twitter with his unusual coriander chopping technique. Similar to trimming a hedge or clipping a beard, Rogelio tackles a monster-sized bunch of coriander, starting with the stems and making his way up to the leaves.
It all started when snapchat user Rebecca Castañeda posted the video of Rivera working his indisputable magic on coriander in her father’s restaurant, in Fullerton California. She received so many requests on Snapchat to see the video that she eventually took it to Twitter, where it predictably took off into cyberspace. The video has been viewed almost 5 million times.
Some are even saying it should be included in the dense catalogue of ASMR sounds available on YouTube and other video streaming sites.
Rivera is now officially known as ‘Cilantro Papi’, and is accepting interview requests.
Originally from Fullerton, Castañeda recently moved to San Diego and took up a job at Mexican fast food chain restaurant . Her father wanted her to film Rivera dicing coriander to show her fellow Chipotle workers how it’s done, in a very 2018, coriander-fuelled take on a Mexican stand off.
Salt Bae - hold your viral crown tight; Cilantro Papi is hot on your trail.
