If you thought “avocado toast” popping up on brunch menus across America was bad enough, you probably haven’t seen some of the latest cringy ways people on social media are attempting to gentrify foods our communities have known and loved.
Apparently, now, at least one person has attempted to turn agua fresca into “spa water.” Videos critical of TikTok user @gracie_norton have been going up in recent days in response to the recipes she shared with her followers featuring what is essentially agua fresca. The TikTok user, however, refers to it as “spa water” and says it’s “packed with antioxidants.” One of the hashtags she uses for the video is #wellnessjourney.
While some of the response videos featured Latines pounding their heads and rolling their eyes in frustration, others had a bit more to say about the videos. “They are now gentrifying agua fresca,” TikTok user @themadzness said. “They’re calling it ‘spa water.’ You know what I think of when I think of spa water? I think of… a bathtub of dirty ass, sweaty water.”
It seems that the ire Latines were feeling about the “spa water” videos got back to the original content creator, who released a message apologizing for the videos and saying, “the origin belongs to the Latin community.”
“I am aware that it is my responsibility to continue to educate myself on the origin of those recipes,” she wrote. “I sincerely apologize to the Latin community and those of you that I have offended.” She added that she had removed all the videos.
“Spa water” isn’t the only example of seemingly cultural appropriation that has been trending for the last few days. Latines are also poking fun at people making “cowboy caviar,” which is basically ceviche or pico de gallo/salsa.
Let’s also never forget the time people called conchas “sweet brioche-like rolls” and elote “corn on a stick.”
TikTok user Daniela Rabalais made a video where she turned the tables and reinvented a hot dog into her very own “sausage taco.” In the video, she calls a hot dog bun a “fluffy tortilla,” mayonnaise “American crema,” and ketchup “American salsa de tomate.”