Valerie was one of the first people to welcome me to Philadelphia, and is always one of the first people you see on the frontlines of change.

But why do the videos feel so dismissive of safe and proper cooking techniques?What about respecting ingredients?

Why are these dishes being made by someone who isn't well-versed in the cuisine?More often than not, the entire dish feels like an afterthought; something that someone threw together for the sake of going viral.Viral food trends feel like the equivalent of submitting your essay at 11:59 p.m. because you just had to have something turned in regardless of it being any good or not.

The lack of intention behind these foods irks me.BIPOC chefs and cooks like me aren't able to do things half-assedly and get far in this industry.. For us, to even get our feet in the door of both the food media and restaurant industries, we have to be twice as good as everyone else.

Before the content even gets made, we have to push past the gatekeeping, fight to be given equal pay and a livable wage, and struggle to be respected in and out of the kitchen.

We have to fight back against cultural appropriation within the culinary world just to be seen and heard.Food & Wine / Photo by Jen Causey / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Christina Daley.

Anna Theoktisto uses sour cream along with milk for more fat content in this cake, resulting in a richer, more moist crumb.She tops the warmly spiced cake with sticky, gooey pecans.. Get the Recipe.

Lemon Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting.Pulling off a delicious homemade cake is about as rewarding as having minimal cleanup afterward.