Spaghetti Tacos! Nickelodeon's iCarly & a Food Phenom That U Don't Know About. Hollywood, CA.

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Nickelodeon’s iCarly L-R Miranda Cosgrove (Carly,), Jerry Trainor (Spencer), Jennette McCurdy (Sam). Photo credit: Lisa/Nickelodeon ©2008 Viacom International, Inc.

Take two basic dishes: a hard shell taco and spaghetti with meat sauce. Perform a mashup with them and what you get is something that's both viral and edible (not as gross as it sounds) — it's the Spaghetti Taco as seen on the hit Nickelodeon tween comedy series iCarly.

Since it's first appearance on the show, it's been steadily catching fire and now it's a full-frontal foodie trend with at least one food truck, Rebel Bite, replicating this fun fusion fare. The young fans of iCarly have, in droves, specially requested their parents make the spaghetti taco just like on t.v. They've posted, Facebooked and tweeted photos of their spaghetti taco meal. Hmmm, future food bloggers?

I was lucky enough to get a chance to hang out on the set of iCarly in the heart of Hollywood. I chatted with some of the cast and crew. I was even invited to have lunch with them, eating from an amazingly abundant catering spread that is usually reserved for only the most successful of shows like iCarly. It happened to be BBQ day and it was phenomenal.

Dan Schneider, both creator of iCarly the t.v. show and the spaghetti taco, is amused, bemused and pleased at how this almost throw-away joke written for one of the lead characters, Spencer (Jerry Trainor), has transformed into a culinary zeitgeist for a certain demographic.

Although Schneider has no near term ambition to cash in on his creation by starting a fleet of food trucks or brick and mortar joints, he is seriously pondering the idea of another wacky food to toss into the iCarly foodiverse. I suggested my Peanut Butter and Jellyfish Sandwich but he retorted that it had to be his own idea. He has a few of them but the only clue I got was the next one will likely be another mashup.

I've worked on many film and t.v. show sets in my day and I have to say the iCarly stage is truly warm and inviting. I got nothing but smiles and welcomes. Oh, and some pretty damn good grub...but, alas, no spaghetti tacos. Next time.

Don't know what iCarly is? It's a good weekend to find out! Here!

iParty with Victorious: Saturday, June 11th at 8pm/7pm central on Nickelodeon!

Also, read my interview with actor Jerry Trainor who plays Spencer on the show.

Comments

Anonymous said…
How is this a "food phenom that [foodie blog readers] don't know about?" It's been widely covered in the press.

https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/06/dining/06tacos.html

Apparently, all it takes to buy good coverage on your blog is a free meal from craft services.
Eddie Lin said…
SweeT! An iCarly fan with no manners. Dear little tween person/foodie (or Anonymous Douchebag), this spaghetti taco phenom is a little story most grown ups without kids don't know about. If you doubt me, just try asking one of your adult friends w/o kids that have a life. Teens & most young adults don't know about this either. So, go back to sexting yourself.

Btw, it wasn't craft service, it was a full on catering service!! BAM! FACIAL!!
Jack said…
I want what was promised me from my favorite kids TV show: Spaghetti Ice Cream via Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street.

I've seen a German contraption, a kind of ice cream "ricer", but I've yet to see a spaghetti, red sauce, and meatball flavored scoop like Oscar once had ...
Eddie Lin said…
Jack Prague,

That makes two of us! Thnx for the comment.