Meet The Thirst-Trapping Chefs of Social Media

It's nearly impossible to escape food content on social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok — everything from private chefs working for the ultra-rich to purposefully gross, absurdist recipes have appeared on our timelines and For You Pages. Now, there's a new addition to the food line-up: sexy chefs who are brining a new meaning to the term "food porn."

For social media stars like the Donut Daddy, who has over 288,000 Instagram followers, chef Jon Kung, who has 1.7 million TikTok followers, or QCP, who has over 12 million followers on TikTok, looking good is just as important as cooking good food.

Food influencers like these create cooking videos that can sometimes border on pornographic — they stare directly into camera as they chop, wash veggies and knead dough, thirst trapping as they cook.

This phenomenon has become so widespread that it's even inspired parodies — TikToker and chef Cylie Stuhler (@cylie.stu) frequently pokes fun at this style of content, showing just how silly it can be.

Why do chefs do this? Well, chef Cedrik Lorenzen told The Cut in a recent interview that he came up with the idea while he was in culinary school to combine his love-language of cooking for a partner with something that would attract an audience, allowing him to show off sophisticated and visually interesting dishes.

"I thought, 'I’m starting my studies, why not open up Instagram with the idea of practicing some dishes that I could see in my future business?'" he told the outlet. "The page just evolved from there. I love eating healthy and working out too, and I guess I wanted to show it, so I started combining them with my love language."

Here are some of the best of these delicious videos.

Donut Daddy

Anthony Randello Jahn, an Australian chef and baker, combines his fine-dining culinary skills with a light dusting of thirst trapping that embodies his brand. He has over 250,000 followers on TikTok.

Jon Kung

Although much more grounded than some of their overtly thirst-trapping peers in the hot chefs of social media space, Detroit-based chef Jon Kung has amassed over 1.7 million TikTok followers by combining his looks with his culinary skills. They currently have over 32 million likes on the platform.

QCP

Gianluca Conte, or QCP as he's known online, is not only a chef, but also a model and comedian who grew in popularity when he created his "The Angry New Jersey Cooking Show" series on TikTok. With "betch" being one of the most common words in his vernacular, Conte makes everything from pasta and seafood to tiramisu and "the best sandwich ever" — all while shirtless. He has over 330 million likes on TikTok.

Cedrik Lorenzen

With over 4.2 million followers on TikTok, Cedrik Lorenzen is one of the pioneers of thirst-trap-chef content and has been making this style of content for five years. The Switzerland-based chef has also garnered over 101 million TikTok likes.

Justin Eseller

Chef Justin Eseller combines other genres of content like superhero character cosplay and fitness with his cooking. He has over 2.5 million followers and more than 77 million likes on TikTok.