A passenger started making gnocchi from scratch at 30,000 feet to prove a point. The backlash was relentless

People mostly assume social media is all about likes and attention. Katie Brooks (@buonapastaclub), a pasta expert, reshared a video of herself making gnocchi on a plane, which she had originally posted on September 4, 2025. The original video went viral, reaching nearly 20 million views. Brooks could be seen mixing the flour, kneading the dough, and making pasta out of it, all while sitting on a flight. Recently, she shared the video again on her TikTok, and it later reached Reddit's r/StupidFood community.

Infamous airplane pasta

When Brooks shared the video of making pasta on a plane, she received a lot of backlash in the comments. 9 months later, she reposted the clip, addressing the backlash in the caption. She wrote, "A little throwback for ya," along with the two-ingredient recipe for the 'infamous Airplane pasta.' All you need is half a cup of fine semolina and 100ml of warm water, the woman added. Brooks had carried a tiny bowl, a dough scraper, and a pasta stamping tool to make her gnocchi. In the previous post, people were asking why anyone would want to eat uncooked pasta on an airplane; she explained in the caption, "In case you’re confused, the point of the video is to show you how easy it is to make pasta. I teach pasta making to beginners, so this is an easy way to show you that pasta is so easy anyone can do it, and you can even make it on an airplane."

Repeated backlash

While people did not look impressed, Brooks' airplane pasta video also reached the Reddit community. It was posted by u/its_me_edenxx, with the caption, "This is so performative. Who tf is out here munching on raw gnocchi at cruising altitude?" To no one's surprise, Brooks' video received backlash once again. People thought there was no reason to make uncooked gnocchi on a plane just because she did not enjoy airplane food. A few also said they would have been extremely annoyed if they were the passenger sitting next to Brooks on the plane.

Annoying passenger habits

Meanwhile, several other people supported Brooks, saying airplane food is not the best. A YouGov Omnibus survey in 2013 revealed that some major issues people have with eating on airplanes include limited food options (37%), poor quality (24%), and high prices (31%). However, their alternative is not making gnocchi from scratch on the plane. Brooks' action is annoying to some, but a 2024 YouGov poll found a few other things people could do to annoy fellow passengers on a plane. People voted allowing children to play in the aisle (86%) as the most unacceptable behavior on a plane. The second includes drunk passengers and people who leave their seats during turbulence (82%). Thirdly, people who watch their shows or movies without headphones (81%).

 Flight food > raw gnocchi

Meanwhile, reacting to Brooks' video, u/Chorixz wrote, "You’re allowed to bring food, you don’t have to bring the ingredients." u/therealgookachu wrote, "That’s a private plane. No way she brought that thing onboard a commercial plane. I’ve had security eye my tiny scissors I use for knitting."

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