Woman Buys $700, 40-lb. Cheese Wheel Direct from Italy — but the Reason Behind the Purchase Is Much Bigger (Exclusive)

03/16/2025 04:30 AM

Elise Osafo bought a half-wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano from Italy as part of her 'Why not?' project

• Elise Osafo was inspired by another TikTok creator to buy a wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano from Italy
• Four days later, a $700, 40-lb. half-wheel of cheese was in her home
• Osafo is documenting moments like these on her TikTok as part of her '100 Why Nots' series 
• Her cheese wheel video went viral, amassing more than 700,000 views

Sometimes, you must ask yourself, "Why not?" when making decisions. Elise Osafo asked herself this when she bought a 40-lb. half-wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano from Italy for $700. It took only four days from the cheese to travel from Italy to her home in California. 

Osafo found inspiration from another creator on TikTok who bought a cheese wheel to recreate the experience of being served pasta in a cheese wheel in Italy. Osafo researched and then decided she would buy the wheel herself, asking, 'Why not?' 

"I have a list on my phone of so many random things I want to do. I thought the first thing I'm going to do is get this cheese," Osafo tells PEOPLE exclusively. "Because why wouldn't I want to have that cheese in my home? That's how it came to be in my possession."

@eltheegg

I bought a half wheel of cheese. 100 Why Nots Ep. 1 #whynot#foodie#parmigianoreggiano ib: @Alessandra

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Osafo has already used her cheese wheel twice: once to make an alfredo pasta; the other to host a pasta party with her friends. They made a lot of fresh pasta and sauces and then lit the cheese wheel on fire to enjoy it like one would tableside at an Italian restaurant. She's earned more than 700,000 views on a TikTok about the experience.

"With the cheese wheel, specifically, it's been a lot of fun bringing my friends around to experience this together," Osafo shares. "It's just a fun way of being a part of my community and getting to share and enjoy together."

Osafo has until June 8 to use up all the cheese before it goes bad. Until then, she plans on making different pastas and continuing to share with her friends.

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Her cheese wheel purchase is the first part in her series about '100 Why Nots,' in which she documents 100 things she does after asking herself, "Why not?" 

"It's based on the mindset that I have that I feel like life is meant to be fun and exciting, and I think we are meant to do the fun, little weird things that we might find interesting,"  Osafo shares. 

"Because why wouldn't you want to experience that joy? Or accomplish that goal? Or, you know, whatever it has to be. It could be a huge thing or simple little things where it's like, why not?"

"I got a tattoo in Amsterdam two years ago, and it says, 'Why Not?' That phrase has guided all my choices in my adult life, like deciding to become a content creator, deciding to go to law school, deciding to pursue my different interests and the different things that I've done — it's all been this 'Why not?' mindset," Osafo recalls. 

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Osafo likens it to a bucket list, and hopes to inspire other people to follow.

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"Life is truly meant to be made up of all these silly, fun decisions that you can always look back on," Osafo shares. "I think depriving yourself of those things makes things a little harder. I would love to inspire people to allow themselves to have the fun that they want, in whatever way that might manifest. Just try it out."

"I'm out here, living my life, having fun while doing it, and I hope that the content that I make can, just like, spark joy," she adds. "I hope it can make people's day a little bit better and just inspire people to live their best life because that's all I'm trying to do."