In my daily — OK, semi-hourly — perusal of various social media platforms, I see a lot of ridiculous videos. I live for them, to be honest. It’s one of the few things that make the internet worth it. A video of a raccoon walking across a piano like he’s playing it with his little paws? Day made.
Over the weekend, however, I came across a video that cut me to my core as a Mainer, Bangorian and lover of pizza. Mythical Kitchen, the popular YouTube and TikTok feed that is one part cooking show and one part comedy series, posted a video detailing how one makes a “Bangor-style pizza.” Have a look.
Lots to unpack here. First off, raise your hands if you’ve heard of a Bangor-style pizza? Nobody? Thought so. The closest thing we have to a Bangor-style pizza is Pat’s Pizza, which we wrote about last year and which I believe qualifies as a regional style of pizza.
Secondly, oh boy, where to begin.
Bangor’s sister city is St. Louis? (It’s not.) American cheese produced in the neighboring town of Orono! (No.) Lobsters that were discovered in Maine in 1587? (The Wabanaki would beg to differ.) Peanuts and maple syrup are an homage to Maine’s lumber industry?! (What is happening! Am I in the Twilight Zone?)
At first, I had to make sure this wasn’t posted on April Fool’s Day. It wasn’t. The ‘tangy white sauce’ Mythical Chef Josh uses is Dannon Light and Fit yogurt, which has to be a joke, right? And in perhaps the greatest insult, the maple syrup is Log Cabin, which is maple-flavored corn syrup. No Mainer in their right mind would do that.
All feigned offense aside, Mythical Kitchen is kidding here, especially if you look at the comments on its TikTok post. This is a channel that posts videos about how they would cook and eat various Pokemon. They do not do anything seriously.
I’ve been a Mythical Beast — a fan of Good Mythical Morning, the original show that spawned Mythical Kitchen and others — for years now. It’s fun, foolish and one of the most entertaining things you’ll see on YouTube. I have to admit that they got me at first with this “Bangor-style pizza” video, but after several views I realized ‘twas I who was the fool.
Did they get you too? I hope they did. Nobody, especially Mainers, should take themselves too seriously.
