Best weird taste combinations?
I guess this is the inevitable spin-off of the lapses in good judgment question. When I was little a kid I knew couldn't get enough of peanut butter and cheese whiz sandwiches. Together. As in mixed. I thought it was the grossest thing ever - well, after the girl who ate tongue sandwiches every day. Haha.
Anyway, what are some of your favourite weird taste combinations? What grossed you out in theory but turned out to be incredibly tasty when you tried it? What combination grossed you out so much you can't bring yourself to try it?
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48 Comments:
After seeing this show on tv where these people put tobasco sauce on every thing I thought i would try it why not if it doesn't kill you it can only make you stronger. So i tried it on Chocolate cake since this was something i saw them do and although the chocolate cake should be really sweet it is actually really good
jado27 at 1:03PM on 01/04/08
It's not really a weird "taste" combo, but it still gets me plenty of weird looks:
Hot cal rose rice (Japanese sticky rice) topped with cold tuna salad (usually made with just mayo and canned albacore). I've managed to get one of our teenaged boys hooked on this, too. Dunno why, but it's on my list of most comforting foods.
8-O
LoCo at 1:42PM on 01/04/08
Chocolate and Bacon! Mo's Bacon Bar by Vosges is sooo good but then it is a question, again, of good judgement. Also, bacon and raspberry jam sandwiches on soudough bread. Crunchy, sweet and sour all in one bite.
evilchefmom at 1:43PM on 01/04/08
Blue cheese and winter squash. When I first heard of this combination, I thought it sounded awful. Then I ended up making a delicious gorgonzola-chestnut soup one day, and thought "If it goes well with one somewhat sweet vegetable, why not another?" It is now one of my favorite combinations.
Nicholas H at 1:54PM on 01/04/08
Grapefruit juice with popcorn. Really.
Curlz at 2:00PM on 01/04/08
Peanut butter and egg sandwiches. They are so good, I promise!!
Peanut butter and baby carrots. Also, really really good!
Cinnamon on anything--I mean anything.
I think this one is more common, but my boyfriend loves peanut butter and bacon sandwiches. I tried a bite once, and they are surprisingly tasty.
luswim06 at 2:20PM on 01/04/08
a history teacher of mine used to eat peanut butter and butter sandwiches for lunch claiming that the butter stopped the peanut butter from sticking to the roof of your mouth. and a good friend of mine swore by peanut butter and mayonaise for the same reason. i'm still not convinced.
avryan at 2:32PM on 01/04/08
Bleu Cheese and Asparagus. Had it the first time at our company's Christmas Party at the Hyatt and found it a much better combo than anticipated.
Chocolate covered pretzels...Chocolate? Salt? Pretzel? It somehow works.
Ricotta and Jelly...Growing up Italian, we had ricotta on crusty Italian Bread or white toast with jelly all the time. Our non-Italian friends thought we were nuts.
Apple dunked in Hummus...Not too strange a combination but I'm reaching for ways to enjoy hummus with fewer bread-related carbs.
chiff0nade at 2:37PM on 01/04/08
egg sandwich with cream cheese and sprinkle of chive on croissant or bagel. so tasty!
the ricotta with jam sounds really good, going to try it.
protest at 2:57PM on 01/04/08
i love to squirt lime juice on my black beans and rice... it's the only way I'll eat it.
And a new combination I discovered recently... hummus with ground mustard. I don't know why, but it just works.
Madelyn
KarmaFree Cooking
MadelynRodriguez at 3:24PM on 01/04/08
One of my favorites in my Purdue days was the Duane Purvis All-American at XXX. It's a hamburger with peanut butter, and it's fantastic!
deeoh1 at 3:29PM on 01/04/08
My wife loves French fries with mayo. As for me, I'll echo the deliciousness of Vosgue's Chocolate Bacon Bar.
blog in my soup at 3:32PM on 01/04/08
I used to like cottage cheese mixed with mustard. Kinda looks like scrambled eggs. Tasty.
A friend of mine used to love peanut butter and mushrooms on a toasted english muffin.
Fairly recently I started eating peanut butter and jalapenos on crackers. I don't know what made me go there, but it is a delightful combination.
Kerosena at 3:44PM on 01/04/08
evilchefmom beat me to the Vosges Chocolate and Bacon, which is oddly good. They also make a nice chocolate and chili pepper bar.
I don't think this is weird at all, but people tend to look at me strangely when I mention a bagel and cream cheese with bacon sandwich. I suggest you try it next time you want a somewhat decadent breakfast sandwich!
Library Lady at 3:52PM on 01/04/08
1 pint of Vanilla Bean Ice Cream with the zest of an Orange and about 1/8 of shredded Fresh Basil Leaf... Mix it up in a cold stainless steel bowl and toss it back in the freezer to harden and enjoy.
I can't explain how weird it is having a savory herb in your ice cream but it works... simply divine.
And I dare you to put it down.
kcline at 4:57PM on 01/04/08
Oh I should also add...
this is going to sound totally disgusting too.
It's a sandwich my Dad absolutely loved, and it is not too bad. Occasionally, I get the craving for the taste of it, but I can rarely finish a whole sandwich so I'd suggest making a half. I think the logical side of my brain starts giving the munchy side of my brain too bad a time and that is what stops me from eating the whole darned thing.
Soft White Bread
Peanut Butter
Miracle Whip
Iceberg Lettuce
See doesn't that sound gross?
It is surprising. The soft white bread as a platform for creamy peanut butter that has a sweet tang from the Miracle Whip and then the crunch of the Lettuce. I have this sinking feeling that you guys and gals will never trust another recipe of flavor suggestion I have to offer after this, but it did say weird tastes ;)
kcline at 5:02PM on 01/04/08
I recently came back from Belgium and I had the best piece of chocolate ever! It was:
green tea + chocolate + salt
and it was deeeelicious!
Hillary
Chew on That
Chew on That at 5:10PM on 01/04/08
Seems like the peanut butter thing is a common theme. I really love peanut butter and avocado sandwiches.
srbrooklyn at 5:14PM on 01/04/08
This is not weird, but meium boiled egg with a couple drops of tabasco topped with a squirt of kewpie (japanese) mayo. I could eat boiled eggs till I die this way.
Kimchi on a bagel with cream cheese. I learned this from a Korean person. It's delicious.
A drag on a cigarette while you have dark chocolate in your mouth.
pickle at 5:38PM on 01/04/08
My boyfriend likes hard boiled eggs with soy sauce- I wasn't expecting it to be good but it is. I like parmesan cheese (the canned kind) on my popcorn- not sure if that's truly weird but haven't heard of anyone doing it besides me.
bisbee at 5:48PM on 01/04/08
I like to dip my grilled cheese, usually swiss on rye, in blackberry jam... really anything sweet/salty really hits the spot to me.
Oh, and chocolate covered potato chips!
MML at 6:19PM on 01/04/08
Hot, salty French fries dipped in thousand-island salad dressing.
hatlady at 6:25PM on 01/04/08
Following the Peanut Butter sandwich theme, my favorite is PB and a good portion of French's Mustard on a medium/dark oatmeal or wheat bread, just the right combo of sweet and tart
GrizDave at 6:41PM on 01/04/08
I have to add...
How is it that PB seems to go with everything?
Also, grilled ham and cheese sandwiches dipped in maple syrup is really good.
luswim06 at 8:29PM on 01/04/08
I forgot one: taco pizza. Who thought lettuce and refried beans would be good on a pizza?
evilchefmom at 9:48PM on 01/04/08
Mint and coffee ice cream with peanut butter sauce and marshmallow fluff! Yum!
Also carrots with peanut butter (I saw Doogie Howser do it when I was little and I was hooked).
I love tea/salt chocolates, so yummy.
I also like caramel/marshmallow/chocolate dipped potato chips... My boss used to make them for me.
pbisNOTmyname at 10:15PM on 01/04/08
Li Hing powder sprinkled over apples. Or mango. Delicious. In fact, it was today's breakfast. And upon writing this, I must go see if my mangos are ripe yet. Because you can never get enough of that stuff.
chisai at 10:34PM on 01/04/08
french fries in vanilla ice cream/milkshakes. it is something my father taught me when i was a kid and is now teaching my sisters. anytime we resort to fast food, that's the first thing everyone eats.
alacto at 8:13AM on 01/05/08
Chcolate+olive oil+sea salt:
The first time I came across this combination was in a review of an improvised dessert at a restaurant in Spain. The reviewer was enchanted, and burbled on a bit in the food-as-erotica strain (something along the lines of 'thrilling crude masculinity'), whose unintended humour left me in stitches. Once I stopped gasping with laughter, I mumbled 'ew', and moved on. My thoughts did keep going back to this, however, and I finally had to try it; although I cannot describe my own reaction as wildly visceral, I did like it very much (I know that in many urban centres this is a fairly familiar combination, but there are still those who consider it quite odd).
Creamy+savoury:
For me, way beyond weird, even though it is extremely commonplace; even contemplating putting such a mixture into my mouth makes me go clammy and pale, and if I don't take immediate steps, I will actually be sick to my stomach.
Incidentally, a good number of the combinations that others have mentioned here remind me of Zotter chocolates - including one with bacon bits - (http://www.zotter.at/141.html?&tx_shop_pi1[pointer]=max) many of which I definitely intend to try.
mongoose at 10:22AM on 01/05/08
My stepmother loves coffee ice cream with (salted) pretzels...a very good combo, imo! The problem is that I never think to have it unless I'm with her!
I'm not a sweet fan in general, but I do love the combo of salt/sweet.
Curlz at 10:24AM on 01/05/08
My late father-in-law was big on a chocolate ice cream soda with a big salted pretzel stick. But in 1967 (I know where I was living when I found it is how I can precisely date it), I found this combo, called a Charlie Brown sandwich:
PB
bacon
sliced sweet pickles
white bread
I haven't eaten it in years - like an addict, I know I'd be knocking them back every afternoon. But tasty.
Peanut butter is a chameleon-like ingredient. Think about it in satay sauce and PB cookies and peanut soup. (Or in PB & mango chutney sandwiches.) It amazingly versatile.
lemons at 11:00AM on 01/05/08
Hubby eats pineapple and mayo sandwiches. Sometimes with cheese.
LoCo at 12:09PM on 01/05/08
My college cafeteria made pasta every week with bacon, coconut milk and peanut butter. It was amazing - I've never been able to happily replicate it. I also second popcorn with parmesan cheese - haven't had that in years!
xaire at 12:43PM on 01/05/08
Hey, KCLINE, I've been eating the pb, mayo, lettuce on white bread sandwich for years! It's killer.
bessfour at 12:57PM on 01/05/08
the other day we did wild rice with dried cherries bloomed in mustard oil, pickled peanuts, soy sauce, butter and eggs. It was strangely very familiar tasting - not weird at all.
zapatista at 2:04PM on 01/05/08
I like to add fruit to green salads along with the vegetables, like cucumbers, carrots, celery, radishes, etc. Apple, grapes, chewy dried fruits. I like the sweetness along with the other tastes. I personally don't think this is weird, but I've had pleasantly surprised guests.
I also like to pair fruits with the main course. These are usually cooked in some manner or other.
PerkyMac at 10:59PM on 01/05/08
Fries in a Wendy's (original chocolate) Frosty!
luswim06 at 12:38AM on 01/06/08
I would have to say that the peanut butter and butter sandwich theory about it not sticking to the roof of your mouth is correct, at least for me!
Peanut butter does seem to be a great foundation for many different ingredients.
My brother loved peanut butter, american cheese, bologna, mayo, ketchup sandwiches. I was horrified and I hated it, but when I removed ketchup, it actually was quite good.
I love peanut butter, vidalia onion, mayo sandwiches.
Cottage cheese and strawberry jam.
Mustard on a grilled cheese sandwich.
Fries with thousand island dressing and also the greek yogurt sauce.
radley24 at 4:32AM on 01/06/08
my brother and I grew up eating peanut butter and potato chip sandwiches:
Wonder bread
extra crunchy peanut butter
strawberry jelly
Lay's potato chips
We would put a thick layer of potato chips over the jelly, and smash it all down - so yummy!! I guess it was the salty/sweet combo that we loved - I still make them every once in a while!
jeepgirl42 at 8:29PM on 01/06/08
jeepgirl - along the same vein, doritos on a bagel with cream cheese are also very good.
lexophile at 10:18PM on 01/06/08
i once saw someone squeezing lemon juice on barbecue chips. I was skeptical but when I tasted it, it was not bad. (I never re-created the combo on my own...)
thegreatlumpia at 10:23PM on 01/06/08
i love to make cinnamon toast using extra virgin olive oil instead of butter.
cybercita at 12:18AM on 01/07/08
mum taught me both of these:
1. another pb killer sammich: peanut butter and kaya (coconut egg jam)!
2. durian on white rice sprinkled with salt!!
these are weird even in most of southeast asia i think. the trick probably lies in the almost umami quality of sweet+salty combination.
i also happen to love the Hong Kong daily beverage 'yuenyeung', coffee plus tea with evaporated milk, when the balance is done just right.
and the most delicate crepe i had, in italy, with lardo colonnata+honey+walnut
economyrice at 5:41AM on 01/07/08
When I was pregnant and confined to bed, my FIL made me his favorite banana sandwich. I was excited, because I love bananas. It was between two layers of bread really super thickly slathered with soft tub margarine which is something I could never eat even when I was a child. I couldn't, I just couldn't.....but, I took a bite and he was happy that I tried it. I had to tell him, or I'd get it everyday. The mouth feel of all that disgusting fat is something I'll never forget. He's in his 90's now, slender and super healthy. Go figure.
PerkyMac at 12:22PM on 01/07/08
Onion dip made with Lipton onion soup mix and eaten with BBQ chips (usually wavy Lays). YUM! Just not the same with plain chips anymore.
jmoilanen at 1:21PM on 01/07/08
Curlz: I don't believe you beat me to coffee ice cream and pretzels!! I've been eating this for over 40 years and I still love it. I forgot who introduced me to it or why I started to combine the two.
RichardCrystal at 1:37PM on 01/07/08
How about a root beer float with chocolate ice cream? It's a favorite!
Colorado Jim at 2:05PM on 01/07/08
My dad used to make me cheddar cheese & strawberry jelly omelettes with toast. It sounds gross, but I promise it is really yummy. It's just like if you had scambled eggs with cheese and ate that along with toast with jelly. Also, a restaurant I worked at had me make a sandwich that consisted of 9-grain bread, avocado, muenster cheese, tomato, alfalfa sprouts, sun-dried tomato pesto aioli & mango chutney...God, that is a fabulous sandwich!
Tasty Morsel at 2:10PM on 01/18/08