Where is the Elmo ‘balsamic vinegar’ TikTok sound from?

Georgina Smith
Elmo on the Tonight Show

TikTok is loving a viral sound of Sesame Street character Elmo talking about cooking, particularly for the way he says ‘balsamic vinegar.’ But where did this popular sound originate?

The past year has been a hugely successful one for short-form video app TikTok, seeing millions more join the app and start making their own content, which often ends up going viral.

Much of the most popular content on the app stems from ‘sounds’ which essentially refers to any type of audio. While sounds are often songs, many of the most viral ones are audios from other viral clips online, whether they are completely new or a throwback to an older clip.

The latest sound to go viral and sweep For You Pages across the world is a snippet of iconic Sesame Street character Elmo narrating his cooking process.

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“It’s gross stuff, but it tastes good when you put it all together. Onions, garlic, celery… balsamic vinegar. That’s a big word for Elmo,” he says.

This sound has gone particularly viral thanks to Elmo’s pronunciation, and people have been using the audio to make their own memes about ‘big words,’ or even just to lip-sync to the funny clip.

Where is the Elmo TikTok sound from?

This audio actually isn’t from an episode of Sesame Street as some might predict, but instead an old episode of The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon from back in 2015.

In the episode, Elmo is promoting the Sesame Street ‘Let’s Cook’ cookbook, and he teams up with Jimmy to cook some of the recipes from the book. The viral sound comes from the moment they make a ‘Sloppy Oscar’ burger.

Topic starts at 2:03

TikToks using the clip are garnering hundreds and thousands of likes, and there are many who can’t stop listening to the audio just to hear the way he says ‘balsamic vinegar.’

About The Author

Georgina was formerly an entertainment writer for Dexerto. She covered all aspects of influencer culture on TikTok and more, including creators such as Charli D’Amelio and Addison Rae. She also wrote about hit reality shows such as Love Island and Below Deck.