Quick, think of the most humble meal you prepare but secretly love. Perhaps it’s a hot dog on Wonder Bread. Maybe it’s cottage cheese drenched in hot sauce. Maybe it’s a touch more simple than that, like butter on Saltines. Now imagine whipping it up in front of the entire internet—or at least in front of the 4,993 people who stopped scrolling long enough to voice their opinions about your meal.
That’s what happened when Italy’s Sophie Minchilli (@Sophieminchilli) shared a little moment of culinary happiness. Her boyfriend cooked dinner for Minchilli for the very first time. And even though it was a humble meal of tomato sauce over rice, Minchilli enjoyed it. And that should be all that matters, right?
Right?
Her fellow TikTok users emphatically did not think it was “so good”—or even acceptable. They went so far as to encourage Minchilli to dump her beau.
Kitchen Catastrophe. Or Is It?
“My boyfriend said ‘I’ll cook for you’ for the first time and he’s so cute he did his best,” she wrote in her text overlay.
The video shows someone putting an even amount of white rice into two bowls. They top the rice with steaming tomato sauce and mix the concoction together. The dish is topped with olive oil before Minchilli digs in with a spoon.
In the caption of her clip, Minchilli gave her final verdict.
“It was actually so good!!!” she wrote in the video’s caption as a mash-up soundtrack with “Oh my God, my Shayla,” mixed in, played in the background.
Viewers Come In Hot
At least three viewers referenced a recent Vogue article that asks if having a boyfriend is “embarrassing now.”
“The bar [for men’s competence] is in HELL,” wrote Via (@oliviahye1andonly).
Another asked, “Is this ragebait?”
“She is eating g——- plain rice with tomato sauce. Clearly her standards are in Hell. Who’s to judge though? a third said.
Is Tomato Sauce On Rice Really A Meal?
If the video, which has been seen 2.2 million times, really is bait, then its creator chose a dish that has actual Italian roots. According to the site Cooking With Nonna, rice with tomato sauce, simple as it is, is “Riso al Pomodoro.”
It is a comfort food, and it’s just about as simple as Minchilli’s 12-second video shows. The secret (as with the success of many humble meals) is quality ingredients.
Incidentally, Minchilli has posted two subsequent videos addressing the issue. That includes one where she says the internet has “convinced her to break up with him.” She ends that video asking for dating advice. It’s highly likely she’s trolling.
Minchelli also shared, “And this is why I will never be posting about my friends, family or partner ever again on this app.”
UPDATE: Minchilli gave BroBible some further insights into her boyfriend’s controversial dish. “It’s a pantry staple and a common childhood/nostalgic home cooked dish. My boyfriend made a simple tomato sauce, by adding olive oil and a little bit of white onion to a pan, then adding the fresh passata I had bought at the farmer’s market and let that cook for 10 min. He added a few fresh basil leaves and to end we drizzled some olive oil and grated parmigiano.”
@sophieminchilli It was actually so good! 🥹♥️ #mylifeinitaly #pantrydinner