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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Lifestyle
Leah Harper

‘He’s having the time of his life!’ How Tariq the Corn Kid embraced global fame – and broccoli

Tariq holds a corncob as Julian Shapiro-Barnum grins.
‘When I tried it with butter, everything changed!’ Tariq, the corn kid, with Julian Shapiro-Barnum. Photograph: Handout

It was the height of summer when seven-year-old Tariq declared: “For me … I really like corn” – and promptly became an internet sensation. His video interview with Julian Shapiro-Barnum, host of web series Recess Therapy, went viral, as his description of corn as “a big lump with knobs” and general enthusiasm for the vegetable racked up views around the world.

“What do you like about corn?” asks Shapiro-Barnum in the video, which was shot at Smorgasburg, a weekly food festival in Prospect Park, New York. “Ever since I was told that corn was real, it tasted good,” says a gap-toothed Tariq, seemingly bemused by the sheer existence of corn. “But when I tried it with butter, everything changed! … I can’t imagine a more beautiful thing! It’s corn!”

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