It makes a certain amount of sense that cooking show hosts should have to make conversation along with their honey butter—they have to do something to help pass the time and otherwise distract viewers from the fact that they’re literally watching a pot (which will never boil now). Unfortunately, not everyone is The Barefoot Contessa, so the squawking has become less instructive and more intrusive over the course of time. Well, one amateur chef has launched a channel that’s taken pointless chatter off the menu to focus on the sights and sounds of the simple meals being prepared.
Cooper Nelson is the founder of Silently Cooking, a YouTube channel filled with 1-2 minute videos of Nelson wordlessly preparing meals for himself. (Don’t worry, the recipes are included in the video descriptions, so you can recreate the meal on your own.) His latest video, posted above, shows him making banh mi, including pickling the veggies. The only sounds are of a knife, food processor, or the stove being lit, but they’re all very soothing.
The preparation may appear to fly by, but Nelson makes sure to use a meat thermometer so he’s not actually cutting corners, i.e., serving himself a side of salmonella. The reality is that you’re probably not going to learn to make Beef Wellington this way, but these videos are a great way to prepare yourself for that culinary undertaking.