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On Aug. 10, 2025, renowned Turkish food critic and academic figure Vedat Milor posted a striking Instagram reel on his account, featuring himself and his wife, Professor Linda Susan Milor, floating in the sea while holding a plate of pasta.
The video quickly set off a buzz—many viewers in Türkiye mistakenly believed the pasta was being cooked in the water. In reality, the clip is a playful visual illusion rather than a culinary experiment.
The clip begins with the camera framing a serene sea backdrop. Linda and her friend stood submerged up to their waists, a pasta dish seemingly steaming in the open water.
Turkish gourmet Vedat Milor's wife, Professor Linda Susan Milor, floats in the sea holding plates of pasta in a playful scene from a video shared on his Instagram account @vmilor on Aug. 10, 2025. (Video via Instagram/@vmilor)
This led to widespread discussion online, with many people assuming the pasta was being prepared in seawater. In actuality, the cooking took place beforehand, and the couple simply staged the scene for visual impact—a point clarified by explanations shared on social media following the initial reaction.
Vedat Milor, born in Istanbul on Oct. 10, 1955, first trained as an economist before earning a PhD in sociology at the University of California, Berkeley.
His fascination with food and wine blossomed during his graduate years, especially after exploring cuisine at the famed Chez Panisse and wine shops in Berkeley.
Over time, he transitioned from academia to food journalism and television. He became widely known for his long-running show and for founding the gastronomic blog Gastromondiale.
His multifaceted background includes teaching sociology at Brown University and Georgia Tech, earning a law degree from Stanford, and working briefly at the World Bank. Married to Professor Linda Susan Milor, he also contributes to some newspapers and remains active through Gastromondiale.
This playful video tapped into several ongoing trends: the fascination with food-centric content, the rising popularity of lifestyle stunts online, and the public’s readiness to interpret visuals through cultural filters. In Türkiye, where Vedat is a household culinary name, the unusual setting triggered lively debate—many viewers initially accepted the pasta-as-art concept at face value.
Shortly after the reel began circulating, people in the comments clarified that the pasta was cooked on land and not boiled in seawater.
What remains is pure visual artistry—no scientific cooking method.
2 min read
