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In 2017, the world fell for Salt Bae. Turkish restaurant owner Nusret Gökçe was launched into the social media viralsphere, after demonstrating how to salt meat with flair. The meme took off, and never got old. Until now. 2018 is all about Cilantro Papi, also known as Rogelio Rivera.
Rivera is cilantro chopper extraordinaire at Fullerton’s El Camino Real Mexican Food. Rivera’s herb mincing prowess was first discovered on Snapchat and Twitter, when Rebecca Castañeda filmed Rivera performing daily prep work. According to The Daily Meal, Castañeda’s father El Camino Real owner threw down the gauntlet for his daughter’s manager at Chipotle, to make sure the world learns how to properly chop cilantro. Just watch:
So many people messaged me on Snapchat on how satisfying this video was. Twitter, I’m gifting you the video of Rogelio chopping cilantro. pic.twitter.com/tvY5m5ffU7
— Rebecca Castañeda (@atomic_era) January 4, 2018
Rivera’s sensation kept spreading, a Twitter user offered a nickname, and a new meme was born: Cilantro Papi. With over 3.4 million views, Cilantro Papi’s chop is unusually hypnotic, and Twitter agrees:
Why is this so peaceful?
— Sugarfoot® (@carameljawn) January 4, 2018
Minnie said he’s “Cilantro Bae” HHAHAHA
— Rebecca Castañeda (@atomic_era) January 4, 2018
I can cut a lot less cilantro in a lot more time than that.
— Andrew Davidson (@DaveyDavidsonNC) January 4, 2018
Those are 2:20 minutes I'm never getting back, and I'm cool with it.
— Cat Lima (@dakitcat) January 5, 2018
Rebecca Castañeda also started an Instagram account for El Camino Real Mexican Food.
El Camino Real Mexican Food
303 N Euclid Street
Fullerton, CA
