Rising food star Eitan Bernath leans into world comfort food

 

Eitan Bernath, unlike his contemporaries, did not collect baseball cards, comic books, or coins as a child. He amassed a collection of cooking implements. "Food is always included in my best memories," he says.

 

That life, after all, is yet young. Bernath is only 19 years old, but he's already made a name for himself as a social media influencer and TV personality because to his passion for cooking. "Eitan Eats the World," his first cookbook, was published by Clarkson Potter this spring.

 

From a Sweet & Smoky Guac Burger to Turkish Red Lentil Soup and Kurdish Shamburak, the book features 85 comfort food recipes from around the world.

 

“Knowledge is power and knowledge is so important,” Bernath says. “The more you learn about the world around you, the better you can be an informed and kind citizen for the world.”

 

Bernath is part of a wave of young food stars who got their springboard from social media, in his case a strong TikTok following. He has 350 million people viewing his content in 150-plus countries, and has a production and entertainment company that employs six people.

 

He made his first TV appearance on Food Network’s “Chopped” at age 11 — also appearing on “Guy’s Grocery Games” with restaurateur Guy Fieri a few years later — and started creating content when he was 12. He viewed it as a job, monetizing his blog after his third post.

 

“I was excited about doing it before anyone was watching,” he says. “I was truly just as excited when I was getting 100 views when I was 12 to now and I’m getting millions.”

 

He is the principal culinary contributor for “The Drew Barrymore Show” and was recently named to the Forbes list of “30 Under 30” for Food and Drink.

 

Bernath, who grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey, claims that both of his parents were educators who utilized food to teach him and his brother about the world.

 

"Food is such a vital component of community and culture growing up in a Jewish household, as it is for many different communities," he said. "It's a fantastic opportunity to consume excellent meals while learning about the world around you."

 

"Eitan Eats the World" has recipes from all over the world, from the Middle East to Spain, Italy to India. Bernath ensures that each cuisine is acknowledged and that he is "appreciative, not appropriative."

 

“I take the perspective of, I’m a learner who’s sharing with my followers what I’ve learned. Of course, I am no expert on Indian cuisine or on Mexican cuisine or Italian cuisine, because I’m not Mexican, Italian or Indian, but I am someone who loves to learn about them.”

 

He used to spend a lot of time in his room as a kid, hooked to cooking programs and meticulously watching elders in India, Mexico, and Italy cook while filling his notes. He'd then go into his kitchen and attempt to duplicate what he'd seen.

 

He also used the internet to make the book ready. However, he discovered that he needed to be especially inventive because it is difficult to design something that no one else has done before.

 

“A lot of times as a recipe developer, you come up with an idea and think, ‘Oh, this sounds so good! I love this idea.’ And then I will go Google and I wonder if anyone has done that yet, and I would say 99.9% of the time the answer is yes, someone’s done it.”

 

As a result, Bernath came up with some surprising combinations that were hiding in plain sight, such as Bruschetta Avocado Toast, which combines two popular bread toppings. "It's like matching in that I think to myself, 'Why haven't I done this a million times?' It's delectable."

 

Bernath struck twice when she upgraded the original tuna melt by giving it a French croque monsieur makeover. The latter's usual ham is swapped with tuna, and a Mornay sauce is added. "Sinfully wonderful," he says of this one.

 

Bernath is a food evangelist who claims that there are many more employment options in the food industry than most people realize.

 

He also pushes back against some who sniff that he needs to work in a restaurant to call himself a chef.

 

“I think a chef is someone who earns money cooking, who works in the kitchen,” he says. “I think at the end of the day, whatever you want to call what I do, whether chef or not, the world is changing.”