Social media platforms have become a stage for amateur celebrity chefs, with many A-listers sharing their unique recipes and cooking tips. However, some of these unconventional methods risk contamination or illness, according to Head Chef Saifur Rahman of Tower Tandoori.
Brooklyn Beckham recently drew criticism for reposting a clip of himself using seawater to cook pasta, a technique Rahman strongly advises against. "Raw seawater can contain microorganisms that you do not want in your food, and if you're scooping it up beside boats you also have no control over other contamination," Rahman stated. He also pointed out that cooking pasta in seawater offers no control over salt levels and that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) specifically warns that natural seawater can harbor germs. Similarly, Beckham's use of a wine cork in spaghetti Bolognese was deemed ineffective, with Rahman explaining that while there's an old tradition of using corks with octopus, there's no culinary basis for its use in minced beef sauces.
Reese Witherspoon also faced scrutiny in 2024 for sharing a video of herself making a drink called "Snow Salt Chococinno" using snow scraped from her car. While Rahman acknowledges the appeal of using snow for its icy texture, he cautions that outdoor snow can pick up dirt and contaminants. "US food-safety guidance even warns against using outdoor snow to keep food because of potentially unsanitary conditions," he noted, suggesting that using clean drinking water for shaved ice is a safer alternative.
Meghan Markle's culinary suggestions have also been met with mixed reactions. Her tip of adding sparkling water to scrambled eggs to make them fluffier is considered "reasonable but a little extra" by Rahman, who believes proper temperature control is more crucial. He approved of her idea to grill lettuce, noting that sturdy varieties like romaine hold up well to heat and gain flavor. Markle's "skillet spaghetti" technique, which involves cooking pasta in a limited amount of boiling water in a single pan, is also deemed legitimate, though Rahman advises careful control of liquid levels to avoid a soupy consistency or unevenly cooked pasta.
Ruth Langsford's inclusion of instant coffee and red pesto in her spaghetti Bolognese and beer in chili were analyzed by Rahman. He admitted that a small amount of coffee can add depth to a rich meat sauce without tasting overtly of coffee, but warned against overdoing it. Red pesto, he noted, contains ingredients that naturally complement pasta and tomato-based sauces. Beer in chili, he described as a "classic tip" that can add beneficial maltiness and bitterness.
David Beckham, unlike his son, has earned a reputation for his culinary skills. His reported use of ketchup in cottage pie is seen by Rahman as a shortcut with sound flavor logic. Ketchup provides tomato, sweetness, acidity, and savory notes, elements that can enhance a beef filling, similar to tomato purée or Worcestershire sauce.
Robert Pattinson's 2020 microwave pasta creation, dubbed "Piccolini Cuscino," which involved pasta, cheese slices, sugar, cornflakes, and a hamburger bun, was characterized by Rahman as "brilliant entertainment, terrible recipe advice." He suggested Pattinson's dish was more of an imaginative experiment than a culinary lesson, stating, "I'd give him points for imagination and absolutely no points for something I would tell a home cook to recreate."