It’s natural for people to want to share their opinion on something they’re excited about. American model Gigi Hadid did just this when she posted videos of herself making a Spicy Vodka Pasta recipe on her Instagram story in 2020. The media immediately jumped on this recipe, which then became a trend on TikTok. Thousands of users were creating videos of themselves making this flavorful pasta, crediting Gigi Hadid, of course. 

This may seem like a fun, harmless trend. However, I have a different opinion on who should really be getting credited for the recipe.

Maya Mohanti ’23 agrees.  

Maya has been making penne vodka pasta years before Gigi Hadid posted her pasta. 

She tried both recipes — Gigi’s and a traditional penne vodka pasta — and concluded that they had similar ingredients, but found Gigi’s a bit heavier. Maya has a strong opinion about this trend. She not only believes that “it’s a very standard recipe that she could’ve found online,” but she also thinks that naming it after Gigi is ultimately “disrupting someone’s heritage and profound vital recipe to their culture.”

She added, “that’s like if Taylor Swift came up with a dal recipe and called it ‘Tay Tay’s spicy lentil stew,’ when, in reality, dal is one of the most standard Indian recipes.”  

I’m not sure whether Gigi put her own twist on the recipe or not. Personally, I am grateful that Gigi shared this recipe on her Instagram story because I had never made penne vodka pasta before. When the #GigiHadidPasta trend broke out, I was curious to know why everybody was talking about it. The following Sunday I cooked it and concluded that it was an extremely flavorful meal. 

Being named after Gigi Hadid has definitely popularized the recipe because of her fame. 

However, this is actually a problem as well, because celebrities need to take into consideration the platform they have. They know that everything they post is going to be heavily publicized. She should have clearly stated her recipe source to prevent any backlash or confusion about who was responsible for the creation of the recipe. It’s important to give credit where credit is due.

Gigi should have known better. After all, penne vodka has been around for over forty years. We may never know whether it was invented in Bologna or New York, but we do know that it wasn’t Gigi. Her responsibilities when it comes to posting on social media are at much higher stakes than a regular person.

Overall, this is a fun trend that people decided to participate in, but Gigi should have recognized her mistake in failing to specify her sources.  I’m making the pasta again this weekend, but this time I’m tagging it as #TraditionalPenneVodka.

Image source: Instagram, via Grazia.