YouTube cooking shows thrive during pandemic, boosting the Babish Culinary Universe, home of goofball cookery
- Popular YouTube cooking channel Babish Culinary Universe has doubled its viewer numbers during the pandemic
- Ex Bon Appetit cook Sohla El-Waylly has recently joined the channel, bringing new subscribers and boosting figures
Mac and cheese, 18th-century style. A seven-course meal using only ingredients from a convenience store. A meal that is literally on fire.
Four episodes into her new YouTube show, Stump Sohla, part of the expanding “Babish Culinary Universe” channel, Sohla El-Waylly has yet to be stumped by a food challenge.
El-Waylly became a familiar face on YouTube as a stand-out on Bon Appetit’s test kitchen channel. But during the nationwide racial reckoning in the US following the police killing of George Floyd, she was among members of the test kitchen who accused the channel’s owner, Condé Nast, of discriminatory compensation and other practices. A Condé Nast representative said race wasn’t a factor in setting pay.
El-Waylly departed Bon Appetit in August after failed negotiations. Her new show is her own, pushing her to deploy her talent, charm and encyclopedic culinary chops to solve challenges.
“My creativity comes from being put in difficult situations,” El-Waylly says during a break from shooting an episode. The series riffs on a game show, with a spinning wheel that determines which challenge El-Waylly will take on.