Mexicans Are Making Gingerbread Houses Out of Chicharrón
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Gingerbread homes come in all shapes and sizes, and now the homes are being reimagined with chicharrón, salsa, and guacamole.
The chicharrón houses, also known as Casitas de Chicharrón on TikTok, was created on a whim by Mexican creator and baker, América Casio Espinosa (@merydoki) who posted a video of her Chicharrón wall while preparing an order of gingerbread.
She tells Remezcla “the idea occurred to me while I was baking cookies — in this case, the orders for some cookie houses I sell — and while I was baking, I was eating some chicharron with salsa. That’s when the idea came to me, and since I had almost everything on hand, I said, “Well, let’s see how it turns out” and I didn’t imagine that others would like the idea so much.”
The video quickly blew up, and Espinosa posted follow up videos building her chicharron house to inspire others to build houses of their own. Her viral videos, which received close to a million likes and over 6 million views, have inspired users to create their own chicharrón homes with ingredients found in typical Mexican households such as chicharrón, sour cream, salsa, lettuce, and more.
Comments on the videos play up the Mexican ingenuity, with comments such as “AI or Mexico?” And “imagine being from Switzerland and missing out on this.” Users are even sharing tips to help the homes withstand the weight of the ingredients, suggesting cold sour cream or Chamoy to bind the walls, and Mexican Cotija cheese to act as light snow.
The response to her videos have been shocking but equally exciting for Espinosa, who also has her own bakery in Atlacomulco, Mexico.
“I still can’t quite believe that my creativity has taken me so far. It makes me happy to read people’s comments saying they loved it, people who have already adopted it as a trend and are getting together with family or friends to make the little houses, both from Mexico and abroad. It’s so rewarding that it’s inspired others to make their own videos. It’s truly something that makes me very happy.”
