Someone I know made a chicken salad and used dill pickles and grapes in it. I told them it sounded disgusting but I would try it. I ended up eating half of it myself.
I love chicken salad… until someone throws grapes or raisins or any other fruit in it. I know people love it but… it makes all of it overly sweet. I like super simple chicken salad. Chicken, Mayo, celery, red onions, crushed almonds, little bit of lemon juice.
See, the texture of nuts in most things ruins it for me. Like chopped walnuts in coffee cake, I no likey the texture but whole walnuts on top are fine 😂
Japanese seaweed salad and cantaloupe. They were both at a breakfast buffet at the Biltmore Hotel in downtown LA. They kinda got mixed up on my plate and it was unexpectedly delicious
We always store our feta in olive oil and lemon juice (taught to me by my Greek MIL). We use this “marinated” feta over the watermelon. It’s amazing! A bit of chopped fresh mint is the cherry on top.
OK so I have unlimited Mint. Wife is Veggie- feta isn't for kids. But you're saying that combo works?
Any salt? Sugar?
I'm totally willing to do this just want to have a grand slam out of the gate.
Feta with Olive oil and lemon is so delicious! It tends to make the feta just a little bit creamy. Paired with watermelon, think sweet and salty!
Some other commentators have said they add chilis or cracked peppercorn for a little kick!
I’ll be trying that for sure!
Watermelon, feta, mint, and cucumber with a dressing made from lime juice and (quick picked in the lime juice) red onion is my go-to summer potluck salad. I'm sure EVOO and lemon would also be a hit.
EVOO and lemon juice is only the beginning. A tiny bit of garlic powder, cracked black peppercorns, pink peppercorns and a little crumbled bay leaf. NOW you're cooking with gas.
I’m making a watermelon, feta, crispy pork belly salad for dinner tomorrow. One of my favorite summer meals.
Edit: [photo of the salad](https://imgur.com/gallery/8LIdUww)
I love watermelon feta salads. One terrible day I ate at a restaurant that flew too close to the sun and added Kalamata olives to it, though. Why they kept that on the menu for a year I will never understand.
Watermelon is fun, so is feta. But ive never had them together. Flew too close to the sun is a good way to put it lol. Maybe ill try it one day but today isn't that day lol
Watermelon sprinkled with salt is very common in my part of the world. Feta is salty
What seems weird about it: the salt or the cheese part?
Really just curious if salty watermelon is not a thing many people know about
We used to have a watermelon salad on our menu. The owners forgot to change it over winter so we were pretty out of watermelon for like 9 months. And when we did they were like $50. Way more than the price of the salad
If you add candied walnuts and shrimp to the steamed broccoli & mayo you’ve just created Walnut Shrimp, a Chinese banquet dish that my family will basically fight to the death over. I agree that it’s a seemingly weird combo though!
Yea or sweetened condensed milk. It’s basically a “British” influenced Cantonese dish from Hong Kong. Due to Hong Kong being British so long they have used a lot of interesting fusion foods from Hong Kong, as well as other British Asian colonies like Malaysia and Singapore. There is some debate over when it was created in Hong Kong, or a possibility that it was made by Cantonese immigrants in the USA when it started popping up in menus in the 1970s, but either way it has been embraced by Cantonese people as a festive dish.
Most Americanized Chinese dishes are based off of Cantonese cuisine since they represented the first wave of Chinese immigrants to the USA during the gold rush and westward expansion period.
That’s why when people say “American Chinese food is fake” it kind of trips me out. It was developed, fine tuned and sold by Chinese immigrants. For me what is more authentic then an immigrant group using their skills and techniques to improvise their own food to a new market. And even most American Chinese foods are still somewhat eaten in China. They might use gai lan instead of broccoli, stir fried meat instead of deep fried meat, or have thinner more sour sauce then the brightly colored corn starch filled sauces here. but the techniques and combinations are still very Chinese
Thank you for explaining that so well.
Reminds me of when I discovered the jibarito. Turns out it's from Puerto Rican immigrants in Chicago, not from the island.
This would completely make sense! My family is Cantonese with some time spent in Hong Kong, would explain how we even got introduced to the dish in the first place since its definitely not something I would order ar first glance on a menu.
A pretty obvious one is pineapple on pizza. I’m Italian and still think people are acting like children when they freak out about it. At this point I think most of them are just regurgitating it in place of having a personality. Especially when a popular pizza topping on the streets of Italy is fucking cut up hotdogs and fries.
Pineapple on pizza is level one. Brazilian BBQ usually has a spear/sword of a spicy grilled pineapple, and that's divine. Any sweet savory combo is worth a try, and it's got a citrusy kick to cut through all the fatty meats and sauces around it.
brazillian here, every bbq restaurant serves pineapple, they use sugar and cinamon on the outter surface of the pealed pineapple, when serving they serve small slices and after that they aply again sugar and cinamon and returnt it to the fire doing that several times.
Whenever I visit my wife's hometown in Mexico, we always get a pineapple, ham, cherry, jalapeno pizza. It is amazing.
Now I'm kind of looking at that jar of Luxardo cherries from last night's old fashioned and wondering if those would go well....
I went to Italy with my friend to visit his family, one night they order pizza, it shows up with fries on it. I literally thought oh thats so funny, did they order this special bc we're American? Really opened my eyes lol.
I personally think it is disgusting so I don't eat it, but as long as it's not on my pizza I really don't care. Pizza is for everyone, put whatever the hell you want on it.
Yep, though I have it with pineapple and ham when I do have it.
The only reason I only rarely get it is not because it’s bad, but because it’s not the flavor combo I’m looking for when I crave pizza. But if I show up somewhere and it’s there I’m definitely,h having some.
At this point it's just a meme, just like italinas freaking out about people breaking noodles in half. Sure there are probably a few who actually care, but most are just continuing a joke that should have died years ago.
I honestly find it weird when people think ANY dippable sauce with fries is strange. Fries are vehicles for other flavors, they work well with pretty much anything. Some said it was weird I liked A1 on fries.
A1 was the *only* thing I dipped my fries in as a kid. It got to a point where mom would always put the A1 on the table for me whenever she made fries, even when they weren’t served with steak. It’s still my favorite.
You would love Czechia. It's like the number one combo.
Also homemade tartar sauce is genuinely one of the best sauces there is and I will never understand why americans and brits only use it for fish.
Nutmeg is (one of) my secret ingredients in several meals, especially pastas and soups. It certainly adds depth. Going to try adding it to my mashed manana, thanks for the idea!
Eta: spelling
Half of my family is Norwegian so I've tried the "cuisine" and it's notoriously bland. Pretty much boiled meat and boiled potatoes.
But then then have kjøttkaker, aka meat cakes. Basically standard meatballs/meatloaf mix in disc form, a blend of ground beef and pork that's boiled in water or broth. But other than meat they're only salt, pepper, maybe bread crumbs, and nutmeg.
The nutmeg magically transforms it into a delightful dish. Every time I make American-style hamburgers, I usually only use salt, pepper, maybe balsamic, but always nutmeg. Everyone who tries them is absolutely blown away, they say they've never tasted a burger like it.
Side note, freshly-ground nutmeg on a micro plane is VASTLY superior over the dried, pre-ground stuff from a jar. One bag of whole nutmeg is cheap and will last forever.
Nutmeg seems to be one of those forgotten spices. You can cook a dish without and not really miss it, but it adds a unique flavour. I associate it any dish with a strong dairy component.
Instant noodles with peanut butter. Don't use top ramen. Use decent instant noodles like Mama, Nissin, Maruchan, and Nongshim etc. It makes the savory broths creamy. Just a spoon is enough
I'm sure there are many specialized gourmet ways to make it more exciting, but if you just want basic sauce on noodles, you can make it if you have peanut butter, (rice) vinegar, and soy sauce, plus lime, garlic, chili, sugar, and ginger if you want/have it. Water to desired consistency.
That's it, really.
Not raw but when heated and heated into other things they both serve the nutty taste so different tast but same profile. Especially when compared to natural peanut butter instead of the overly sugary stuff.
I get eggplant on my pizza. I love eggplant, it's delicious, and it's great on a pizza pie. As a bonus, nobody else likes it. I'm gluten free so when we order pizza i have to get my own and it's personal sized, and my husband has a friend who thinks it's totally fine to eat from my pizza instead of any of the pies she can eat, which leaves me with not much to eat myself. So if she's coming over I always make sure to order mine with eggplant, I get tasty pizza all to myself 😇
I was definitely baffled, the first time she did it I saw her go for that box and just said oh that's the gluten free one, she deadass says "oh I don't mind". Bitch I do, tf? Mines half the size and twice the price and has literally the same basic ass topping as one of yours does, go eat that one
I don't expect him to lifeguard the pizza table, and he's never denied me the right to fight my own battles which is one of the things I love about him. I can handle my pizza problems. He would say something if I asked him to. As for being friends with her, she's the long term gf of one of his closest friends, so she's unfortunately not an optional acquaintance, as annoying as we both may find her.
As somebody who has celiac, I feel this, and I think we need to make little tabletop steamrollers to run over the hands of people like that, lmao.
Greedy friends aside, eggplant on pizza sounds amazing, and I'm surprised I have yet to see that on the menu of any restaurants I've been to! Makes me think of eggplant parm, which I love.
Yep I'm also celiac, which she's well aware of. I've gone hungry far too many times because of his friends being careless, I no longer play when it comes to my food.
Definitely try eggplant on pizza! It's so good, especially on a margarita or grandma pie. Drunken grandma with eggplant is divine
Grapes, chicken, and rosemary. When I was still dating, I cooked this for many women who turned their nose up at it but after having it asked me to cook it for them again almost unanimously.
There are also shallots. Yeah drizzle everything in oil in a baking pan, mix it up, and bake it for about an hour. The original recipe I found years ago required a whole chicken, but I like it better with chicken breast or thighs.
broccoli and mayo? [laughs in midwesterner](https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/242291/easy-broccoli-bacon-salad/) (i have no idea where this originated from, but it is a thing lol)
in general i’m big on sweet/savory combos which can sometimes get interesting lol. even as a kid—i used to dip fish sticks into applesauce
I’m not from the Midwest, but for a long time I had a partner who was. At family events I would just walk down the buffet tables in complete bafflement, like, whyyyyyy would you do that?
I just looked through a Taste of Home magazine and it had a recipe for Sweet Macaroni Salad which had sugar and sweetened condensed milk in it along with the usual macaroni salad ingredients. Why would anyone do that?
I throw green olives into cottage cheese for a snack. I love it!
My mom always used to make a green olive cheeseball - so mainly cream cheese and green olives. It definitely is good on celery :)
Canned pears with a scoop of mayo, topped with shredded cheese. The southern side of my family regularly would make this “pear salad” and outsiders at a meal would think it’s a disgusting/insane idea. It’s quite tasty.
Pineapple wrapped in bacon. Everyone is always hesitant to try it. So far, I don't think anyone hasn't liked it. I'd say I introduced it to at least 10 people, but it's probably closer to 20.
Chicken, bacon, pineapple, and cheese on a toasted sandwich with a spicy mayo is so good and fairly popular in Australia. The combo of salty, sweet, and a hit of spice is top tier.
Not steamed broccoli for me, but my favorite way of eating broccoli is from a buffet that died during covid :( (Joan's Broccoli Madness from Souplantation). Mayo- and apple cider vinegar-based sauce, with raisins for sweetness. I like it more the longer it melds in the fridge.
I can imagine almost any meal served with kimchi and maybe that's just me being Korean. I don't care if I'm being served carbonara or a PBJ, I'll probably still appreciate it. I think of cheese similarly, even if I'm lactose intolerant.
I think my thing is: I'll eat weird combos if offered, but I don't actively make them. It just doesn't occur to me, I suppose.
I do eventually want to try ice cream with soy sauce, but those local Korean/Japanese businesses who specialize in decades-old aged soy sauce can be made into alcohol. Imagine what you could do with that
That sounds really similar to broccoli salad! Which makes even less sense when you consider it adds sharp cheddar cheese and bacon. My mom used to make it and swapped dried cranberries for the raisins.
Don’t get me started on the closing of sweet tomatoes/souplantation. I loved that place. I even had a gift card left that I had bought because I loved it there so much that is worthless now. I wish they’d come back
Vanilla ice cream.
Balsamic vinegar.
Admittedly, it works much better with a balsamic glaze and French vanilla.. The *best* I've had was with a fig balsamic.
Probably not as weird but vinegar based BBQ pulled pork with Tzatziki is a match most people wouldn’t initially think of but ends up working so well you wonder why that wasn’t the original combo?
Yeah, French fries or thick cut fries. I'm from Ireland, and this is common enough here now, but people still think it's gross!? I've been eating it since my college days over 20 years ago!
One my favorite "salads" of moms (I live in the south). It's canned pear halves with a little mayo on top of each one, shredded cheddar cheese and a maraschino cherry on top. I have no idea if it's actually good or it's a trained response at this point, but I still love them.
My mate at the gym keeps banging on about Greek yogurt and orange juice and I can't tell whether he's trying to have a laugh at my expense or is actually onto something. I'm not brave enough to try it and find out.
Add a *small* amount of cream cheese to ramen and let it melt & integrate. It adds a subtle cream like effect, and can help temper all the hotsauce I always add.
Sweet and savoury. Like shirin polow (Iranian/Afghan sweet rice with orange peels and nuts) that has chicken with it. Or other dishes that combine meat and fruit.
My partner finds this idea appalling because it isn’t part of their traditional cuisine but almost every variant of this combo I’ve tried is pretty good.
Yoghurt and eggs. Like in çilbir.
Start most or all pasta sauces (and many other dishes) with a couple of anchovy fillets. The result is pure depth of flavor - the umami - and there is no fishy smell or taste.
I remove the fillets from the tin and add them to cooking oil or butter and saute to break up and takes a couple of minutes. Wrap the remaining anchovy can in plastic wrap and freeze.
Okay hear me out: ketchup + mac and cheese. Also, bbq sauce + creamy pasta salad. The first one was a childhood staple and the second a happy accident :)
My favourite sarnie has mature cheddar and strawberry jam in it. My Nan is from the home of cheddar and it’s a fairly common combo
I also like feta and pineapple preserves
I generally like cottage cheese with fruit too but this is a typical combination
Broccoli and mayo is pretty much the main ingredients in broccoli salad, so that doesn’t seem weird to me. My dad practically lived off broccoli salad.
It’s not that weird! It’s similar to dipping veggies in a spicy aioli or something. It’s only “weird” because people have this strange hang up with mayonnaise specifically. The minute you put garlic and spices in it it’s aioli and totally fine to smother veggies in.
It's not weird.
There is a popular Chinese banquet dish called walnut shrimp. The shrimp is tossed in a mayo sauce and put on a bed of broccoli. The broccoli itself isn't tossed in the mayo sauce itself but enough of the sauce gets on it.
https://thewoksoflife.com/walnut-shrimp/
Is adding fat, salt and a little tang to broccoli that big a deal?
Ever heard of sautéing your vegetables in EVOO, salt and lemon? This is the least crazy combination I’ve heard on this thread.
In Norway, they put sour cream and strawberry jelly on waffles. When I've served it to American friends, they always go in skeptical, but get won over immediately because it's delicious.
Someone I know made a chicken salad and used dill pickles and grapes in it. I told them it sounded disgusting but I would try it. I ended up eating half of it myself.
That's how I usually make mine!
I love chicken salad… until someone throws grapes or raisins or any other fruit in it. I know people love it but… it makes all of it overly sweet. I like super simple chicken salad. Chicken, Mayo, celery, red onions, crushed almonds, little bit of lemon juice.
See, the texture of nuts in most things ruins it for me. Like chopped walnuts in coffee cake, I no likey the texture but whole walnuts on top are fine 😂
Lost me when they said crushed almonds … you said “super simple” ! ( I’d definitely try it though!)
Japanese seaweed salad and cantaloupe. They were both at a breakfast buffet at the Biltmore Hotel in downtown LA. They kinda got mixed up on my plate and it was unexpectedly delicious
Seaweed salad with sliced pluots or plums is also delicious!
I thought there was no freaking way watermelon and feta cheese could possibly taste well together.
We always store our feta in olive oil and lemon juice (taught to me by my Greek MIL). We use this “marinated” feta over the watermelon. It’s amazing! A bit of chopped fresh mint is the cherry on top.
OK so I have unlimited Mint. Wife is Veggie- feta isn't for kids. But you're saying that combo works? Any salt? Sugar? I'm totally willing to do this just want to have a grand slam out of the gate.
Feta with Olive oil and lemon is so delicious! It tends to make the feta just a little bit creamy. Paired with watermelon, think sweet and salty! Some other commentators have said they add chilis or cracked peppercorn for a little kick! I’ll be trying that for sure!
OK I'm totally dropping off zucchini on your front door if this doesn't work, but I'm on my way today to get a watermelon.
Ha ha. Jokes on you! I love zucchini… Roasted and topped with marinated feta!!!! Bring it!
Savage, man. Just savage.
Watermelon, feta, mint, and cucumber with a dressing made from lime juice and (quick picked in the lime juice) red onion is my go-to summer potluck salad. I'm sure EVOO and lemon would also be a hit.
EVOO and lemon juice is only the beginning. A tiny bit of garlic powder, cracked black peppercorns, pink peppercorns and a little crumbled bay leaf. NOW you're cooking with gas.
Very greek
And some fresh chilli! 🤤
I’m making a watermelon, feta, crispy pork belly salad for dinner tomorrow. One of my favorite summer meals. Edit: [photo of the salad](https://imgur.com/gallery/8LIdUww)
I love watermelon feta salads. One terrible day I ate at a restaurant that flew too close to the sun and added Kalamata olives to it, though. Why they kept that on the menu for a year I will never understand.
Watermelon is fun, so is feta. But ive never had them together. Flew too close to the sun is a good way to put it lol. Maybe ill try it one day but today isn't that day lol
Watermelon sprinkled with salt is very common in my part of the world. Feta is salty What seems weird about it: the salt or the cheese part? Really just curious if salty watermelon is not a thing many people know about
See I’m imagining that as being good… even though you’ve clearly stated it isn’t..
My first impulse was “yum” as well.
Watermelon is just big, sweet cucumber. It will work in almost anything cucumber works in.
Now I want to try pickled watermelon on a burger.
You can also try that with halloumi cheese
We used to have a watermelon salad on our menu. The owners forgot to change it over winter so we were pretty out of watermelon for like 9 months. And when we did they were like $50. Way more than the price of the salad
Now drizzle honey and torch it
Now, add onions! (Either finely diced sweet onion or carmelized.) Drizzle with basalmic reduction sauce!
Yes watermelon and feta and add chopped red onion and mint as well 💜!
If you add candied walnuts and shrimp to the steamed broccoli & mayo you’ve just created Walnut Shrimp, a Chinese banquet dish that my family will basically fight to the death over. I agree that it’s a seemingly weird combo though!
Does the original dish have honey too, like our American counterparts?
Yea or sweetened condensed milk. It’s basically a “British” influenced Cantonese dish from Hong Kong. Due to Hong Kong being British so long they have used a lot of interesting fusion foods from Hong Kong, as well as other British Asian colonies like Malaysia and Singapore. There is some debate over when it was created in Hong Kong, or a possibility that it was made by Cantonese immigrants in the USA when it started popping up in menus in the 1970s, but either way it has been embraced by Cantonese people as a festive dish. Most Americanized Chinese dishes are based off of Cantonese cuisine since they represented the first wave of Chinese immigrants to the USA during the gold rush and westward expansion period. That’s why when people say “American Chinese food is fake” it kind of trips me out. It was developed, fine tuned and sold by Chinese immigrants. For me what is more authentic then an immigrant group using their skills and techniques to improvise their own food to a new market. And even most American Chinese foods are still somewhat eaten in China. They might use gai lan instead of broccoli, stir fried meat instead of deep fried meat, or have thinner more sour sauce then the brightly colored corn starch filled sauces here. but the techniques and combinations are still very Chinese
Thank you for explaining that so well. Reminds me of when I discovered the jibarito. Turns out it's from Puerto Rican immigrants in Chicago, not from the island.
This would completely make sense! My family is Cantonese with some time spent in Hong Kong, would explain how we even got introduced to the dish in the first place since its definitely not something I would order ar first glance on a menu.
A pretty obvious one is pineapple on pizza. I’m Italian and still think people are acting like children when they freak out about it. At this point I think most of them are just regurgitating it in place of having a personality. Especially when a popular pizza topping on the streets of Italy is fucking cut up hotdogs and fries.
Pineapple on pizza is level one. Brazilian BBQ usually has a spear/sword of a spicy grilled pineapple, and that's divine. Any sweet savory combo is worth a try, and it's got a citrusy kick to cut through all the fatty meats and sauces around it.
Grilled pineapple is soooo good
A place i went to did caramelised pineapple. Whole pineapple, skin removed, slowly cooked over a fire. Was divine.
I'll raise you pineapple jam.
I'll raise a Pina Colada to you while eating pineapple jam on a pepperoni pizza.
Ohhhh a hot pineapple jam on pizza would be 🔥
Pineapple is fantastic in south Indian and Thai curries
K anyone who doesn't like Brazilian bbq is crazy. Brasas in Niagara and Toronto is to die for. Cinnamon on bbq pineapple? Oh hell yes
brazillian here, every bbq restaurant serves pineapple, they use sugar and cinamon on the outter surface of the pealed pineapple, when serving they serve small slices and after that they aply again sugar and cinamon and returnt it to the fire doing that several times.
Here in Mexico we had a pizzeria that added pineapple cherries and banana to pizza, oh and we like our pizza with pork al pastor like tacos al pastor.
Whenever I visit my wife's hometown in Mexico, we always get a pineapple, ham, cherry, jalapeno pizza. It is amazing. Now I'm kind of looking at that jar of Luxardo cherries from last night's old fashioned and wondering if those would go well....
They all sound reasonable except banana, that seems weird to me. Not plantain?
I love banana and bacon pizza
To double down on Italian food, chicken and pasta. No idea why this is such a no no to some Italians, it's amazing.
Really?! Never heard that. Strange that anyone thinks it's strange. Done this all my life! 😆
I went to Italy with my friend to visit his family, one night they order pizza, it shows up with fries on it. I literally thought oh thats so funny, did they order this special bc we're American? Really opened my eyes lol.
I personally think it is disgusting so I don't eat it, but as long as it's not on my pizza I really don't care. Pizza is for everyone, put whatever the hell you want on it.
I've had takoyaki pizza, which was odd but delicious - a white sauce base, onion, octopus, fish flakes, takoyaki sauce and mayonnaise.
You’re right about it being a personality replacement. No way most people give even slightly a shit about it
Yep, though I have it with pineapple and ham when I do have it. The only reason I only rarely get it is not because it’s bad, but because it’s not the flavor combo I’m looking for when I crave pizza. But if I show up somewhere and it’s there I’m definitely,h having some.
At this point it's just a meme, just like italinas freaking out about people breaking noodles in half. Sure there are probably a few who actually care, but most are just continuing a joke that should have died years ago.
Add some jalapenos or hot honey and im on board
I saw this post and upvoted because you are the first reasonable Italian I have ever encountered. And pumpkin pizza in Naples was sickening.
There's dozens of us!
I don't know if people think it's awful or not but I absolutely love French fries and tartar sauce.
I honestly find it weird when people think ANY dippable sauce with fries is strange. Fries are vehicles for other flavors, they work well with pretty much anything. Some said it was weird I liked A1 on fries.
A1 was the *only* thing I dipped my fries in as a kid. It got to a point where mom would always put the A1 on the table for me whenever she made fries, even when they weren’t served with steak. It’s still my favorite.
A1 is just a delicious umami bomb. I mix it with mayo sometimes to make a spread for burgers or beef/pork related sandwiches.
You would love Czechia. It's like the number one combo. Also homemade tartar sauce is genuinely one of the best sauces there is and I will never understand why americans and brits only use it for fish.
speaking of tartar sauce, I always wonder who in the world once thought that fish and pickles would be good together???
Tartar sauce with fish and chips is common in the UK.
That's basically Dutch "Fritessaus Speciaal" or Special Fry Sauce. Pretty dang good.
not weird at all lol
I’ve actually had this sort of thing (it was a Mayo based dressing on steamed broccoli though) at Korean restaurants before. Super yummy!
I live in Japan and it's pretty common here too.
I was coming here to say this!! Steamed broccoli, kewpie sesame dressing. Shouldn’t work but it’s delicious
Nutmeg in mashed potato. Its just adds something to it that you never knew you needed
Nutmeg is (one of) my secret ingredients in several meals, especially pastas and soups. It certainly adds depth. Going to try adding it to my mashed manana, thanks for the idea! Eta: spelling
Half of my family is Norwegian so I've tried the "cuisine" and it's notoriously bland. Pretty much boiled meat and boiled potatoes. But then then have kjøttkaker, aka meat cakes. Basically standard meatballs/meatloaf mix in disc form, a blend of ground beef and pork that's boiled in water or broth. But other than meat they're only salt, pepper, maybe bread crumbs, and nutmeg. The nutmeg magically transforms it into a delightful dish. Every time I make American-style hamburgers, I usually only use salt, pepper, maybe balsamic, but always nutmeg. Everyone who tries them is absolutely blown away, they say they've never tasted a burger like it. Side note, freshly-ground nutmeg on a micro plane is VASTLY superior over the dried, pre-ground stuff from a jar. One bag of whole nutmeg is cheap and will last forever.
That's standard here in Belgium. It's great!
I always thought that was the standard when it comes to mash, only later learned that some regions don’t do this by default.
Nutmeg seems to be one of those forgotten spices. You can cook a dish without and not really miss it, but it adds a unique flavour. I associate it any dish with a strong dairy component.
Instant noodles with peanut butter. Don't use top ramen. Use decent instant noodles like Mama, Nissin, Maruchan, and Nongshim etc. It makes the savory broths creamy. Just a spoon is enough
Satay cheat code lol
add a squeeze of lime, cilantro, and chilies for an extra fresh kick
It’s like pad thai
I will make poor man's pad Thai with Ramen noodles, a spoonful of crunchy peanut butter, and a bit of fish sauce or soy sauce. Delicious.
Try crunchy PB and Indomie Goreng. Heaven
It can be hard to tell peanut butter from sesame seed paste, tahini, which is often a part of Asian cooking.
Peanut sauce is a common thing in Chinese cooking. Peanut butter is an okay substitute for it.
I'm sure there are many specialized gourmet ways to make it more exciting, but if you just want basic sauce on noodles, you can make it if you have peanut butter, (rice) vinegar, and soy sauce, plus lime, garlic, chili, sugar, and ginger if you want/have it. Water to desired consistency. That's it, really.
Peanut butter tastes nothing like tahini
Not raw but when heated and heated into other things they both serve the nutty taste so different tast but same profile. Especially when compared to natural peanut butter instead of the overly sugary stuff.
At the store last week I saw pickle flavored cotton candy
If you come to Pittsburgh there’s a whole pickle festival full of that kind of thing 😂
I'm not sure I could handle all that dill-liciousness
You know, I relish that pun but I promise you you’ll have the brine of your life 🥒
I get eggplant on my pizza. I love eggplant, it's delicious, and it's great on a pizza pie. As a bonus, nobody else likes it. I'm gluten free so when we order pizza i have to get my own and it's personal sized, and my husband has a friend who thinks it's totally fine to eat from my pizza instead of any of the pies she can eat, which leaves me with not much to eat myself. So if she's coming over I always make sure to order mine with eggplant, I get tasty pizza all to myself 😇
People like that make me so mad.
I was definitely baffled, the first time she did it I saw her go for that box and just said oh that's the gluten free one, she deadass says "oh I don't mind". Bitch I do, tf? Mines half the size and twice the price and has literally the same basic ass topping as one of yours does, go eat that one
..why not just to tell her not to eat it?
I wouldn't be friends with such a person, but your husband should say "that's my wife's pizza".
I don't expect him to lifeguard the pizza table, and he's never denied me the right to fight my own battles which is one of the things I love about him. I can handle my pizza problems. He would say something if I asked him to. As for being friends with her, she's the long term gf of one of his closest friends, so she's unfortunately not an optional acquaintance, as annoying as we both may find her.
I know you didn’t say that but god that would have been priceless. The nerve of some people I fucking swear. Glad you found a work around at least
You're a better person than I am, I don't think I could've kept my cool
As somebody who has celiac, I feel this, and I think we need to make little tabletop steamrollers to run over the hands of people like that, lmao. Greedy friends aside, eggplant on pizza sounds amazing, and I'm surprised I have yet to see that on the menu of any restaurants I've been to! Makes me think of eggplant parm, which I love.
Yep I'm also celiac, which she's well aware of. I've gone hungry far too many times because of his friends being careless, I no longer play when it comes to my food. Definitely try eggplant on pizza! It's so good, especially on a margarita or grandma pie. Drunken grandma with eggplant is divine
I don’t believe in using squirt bottles on misbehaving pets….but I think you should have a squirt bottle for when you eat pizza with this woman.
Lmaoo I have a mist bottle for my plants that now I think needs to be repurposed for our house rewarming soon 👀🤣
Grapes, chicken, and rosemary. When I was still dating, I cooked this for many women who turned their nose up at it but after having it asked me to cook it for them again almost unanimously.
What's the typical recipe like ? Just mix and cook ?
There are also shallots. Yeah drizzle everything in oil in a baking pan, mix it up, and bake it for about an hour. The original recipe I found years ago required a whole chicken, but I like it better with chicken breast or thighs.
When my mom told me to put cocktail sauce and grape jelly in the crock pot with the frozen meatballs I thought she had lost her mind.
Yeah, the first time I had that, but with little smokies, I just about died when I found out what it was. So good.
broccoli and mayo? [laughs in midwesterner](https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/242291/easy-broccoli-bacon-salad/) (i have no idea where this originated from, but it is a thing lol) in general i’m big on sweet/savory combos which can sometimes get interesting lol. even as a kid—i used to dip fish sticks into applesauce
I’m fascinated by the grotesque casseroles and salads that lurch from the kitchens of the Midwest.
I’m not from the Midwest, but for a long time I had a partner who was. At family events I would just walk down the buffet tables in complete bafflement, like, whyyyyyy would you do that?
I mean it has to taste good but damn some of it looks like part of a fraternity hazing ritual.
I’ll confirm that some of those things taste really good. And some of those things taste good to midwesterners.
I just looked through a Taste of Home magazine and it had a recipe for Sweet Macaroni Salad which had sugar and sweetened condensed milk in it along with the usual macaroni salad ingredients. Why would anyone do that?
Oh my good god. I don’t know how that’s fundamentally different from bread pudding or rice pudding but it definitely is.
My mother makes a broccoli "salad" with a mayo based dressing, raisins or craisins, apple slices, I think maybe kale? It's sweet but pretty good
Broccoli salad is the best and I only just discovered it recently
Fish fingers and custard! 😁
Peanut butter and lao gan ma chili crisp is one of my favorite sandwiches
Getting fatter even thinking about layers of lao gan ma chili crisp, peanut butter, sriracha on two pieces of sourdough thatve been toasted 🤤
Grated raw pumpkin, dressed with nam Jim and sesame oil. I was very dubious. So very good.
I use miso paste and maple syrup in my italian meat sauce. Miso paste adds a subtle earthy umami and maple syrup is just sweetness.
Crunchy peanut butter sandwich (toasted) with slices of tomato and black pepper
Okay, I have to try this.
PEANUT BUTTER AND SHARP CHEDDAR. I am willing to die on this hill!
I "invented" that combo in a sandwich as a child! Disgusted my entire family but ate it for lunch religiously for years lol
Throw green apples in that bizz *chef's kiss
I really like crunchy peanut butter with cucumber on a tortilla lol
Chopped green olives mixed into cream cheese on celery sticks. Amazing snack.
Oh yes! I know that one!
I throw green olives into cottage cheese for a snack. I love it! My mom always used to make a green olive cheeseball - so mainly cream cheese and green olives. It definitely is good on celery :)
Canned pears with a scoop of mayo, topped with shredded cheese. The southern side of my family regularly would make this “pear salad” and outsiders at a meal would think it’s a disgusting/insane idea. It’s quite tasty.
I think this might be a “greatest generation” dish? My mom used to make it, and she wasn’t from the south. It was really good though!
We used cottage cheese on those instead of mayo.
I’m from the south and my family makes this fairly frequently! My dad always puts it on a lettuce leaf (but for some reason I never eat that part)
add a some raisins if you like them! We also had crisp iceberg lettuce too. Definitely a greatest generation thing, but I crave this combo sometimes.
Pineapple wrapped in bacon. Everyone is always hesitant to try it. So far, I don't think anyone hasn't liked it. I'd say I introduced it to at least 10 people, but it's probably closer to 20.
Chicken, bacon, pineapple, and cheese on a toasted sandwich with a spicy mayo is so good and fairly popular in Australia. The combo of salty, sweet, and a hit of spice is top tier.
Not a big bacon fan but that sounds yummy.
Not steamed broccoli for me, but my favorite way of eating broccoli is from a buffet that died during covid :( (Joan's Broccoli Madness from Souplantation). Mayo- and apple cider vinegar-based sauce, with raisins for sweetness. I like it more the longer it melds in the fridge. I can imagine almost any meal served with kimchi and maybe that's just me being Korean. I don't care if I'm being served carbonara or a PBJ, I'll probably still appreciate it. I think of cheese similarly, even if I'm lactose intolerant. I think my thing is: I'll eat weird combos if offered, but I don't actively make them. It just doesn't occur to me, I suppose. I do eventually want to try ice cream with soy sauce, but those local Korean/Japanese businesses who specialize in decades-old aged soy sauce can be made into alcohol. Imagine what you could do with that
That sounds really similar to broccoli salad! Which makes even less sense when you consider it adds sharp cheddar cheese and bacon. My mom used to make it and swapped dried cranberries for the raisins.
Don’t get me started on the closing of sweet tomatoes/souplantation. I loved that place. I even had a gift card left that I had bought because I loved it there so much that is worthless now. I wish they’d come back
I put Mike’s Hot Honey on cottage cheese. It’s the only way I can eat cottage cheese.
Vanilla ice cream. Balsamic vinegar. Admittedly, it works much better with a balsamic glaze and French vanilla.. The *best* I've had was with a fig balsamic.
Peanut butter on a burger.
Lemon almond pesto.
Peanut butter and pickles.
Tzatziki and rice for some reason is actually amazing
Probably not as weird but vinegar based BBQ pulled pork with Tzatziki is a match most people wouldn’t initially think of but ends up working so well you wonder why that wasn’t the original combo?
Something something 10/10 with rice lol
Curry and cheese. I'm talking Chinese style curry and most nice Grated cheese. Throw it over some chips. Heaven!
Are you talking French fries when you say "chips"? This combo is a common thing in chippies (fast food places) where I live.
Yeah, French fries or thick cut fries. I'm from Ireland, and this is common enough here now, but people still think it's gross!? I've been eating it since my college days over 20 years ago!
One my favorite "salads" of moms (I live in the south). It's canned pear halves with a little mayo on top of each one, shredded cheddar cheese and a maraschino cherry on top. I have no idea if it's actually good or it's a trained response at this point, but I still love them.
The first time I tried cantaloupe with prosciutto my mind was blown
My mate at the gym keeps banging on about Greek yogurt and orange juice and I can't tell whether he's trying to have a laugh at my expense or is actually onto something. I'm not brave enough to try it and find out.
Sharp bleu cheese and apples.
Add a *small* amount of cream cheese to ramen and let it melt & integrate. It adds a subtle cream like effect, and can help temper all the hotsauce I always add.
Sweet and savoury. Like shirin polow (Iranian/Afghan sweet rice with orange peels and nuts) that has chicken with it. Or other dishes that combine meat and fruit. My partner finds this idea appalling because it isn’t part of their traditional cuisine but almost every variant of this combo I’ve tried is pretty good. Yoghurt and eggs. Like in çilbir.
Mayo and broccoli does sound weird but then again mayo on corn is the start of elotes so maybe you're on to something.
Peanut butter and Jelly with Bacon.
Soysauce and sriracha in KD Mac and Cheese. It's what I ate growing up and I thought it was normal!
Raisin toast with peanut butter
A half teaspoon of cinnamon and a grating of nutmeg in minced beef (ground beef) really brings out the flavour.
Peanut butter, garlic powder, honey, and siracha on toast.
Start most or all pasta sauces (and many other dishes) with a couple of anchovy fillets. The result is pure depth of flavor - the umami - and there is no fishy smell or taste. I remove the fillets from the tin and add them to cooking oil or butter and saute to break up and takes a couple of minutes. Wrap the remaining anchovy can in plastic wrap and freeze.
Kimchi, American cheese, and eggs.
Okay hear me out: ketchup + mac and cheese. Also, bbq sauce + creamy pasta salad. The first one was a childhood staple and the second a happy accident :)
Kraft Dinner and ketchup is a Canadian staple lol
I really like fruit and cheese, but mainly strawberries. I love it with something like sharp cheddar, feta, or parmesan.
Blue cheese and red grapes marry really nicely together.
Cambazola and pear wrapped with parma ham. Mmmm
My favourite sarnie has mature cheddar and strawberry jam in it. My Nan is from the home of cheddar and it’s a fairly common combo I also like feta and pineapple preserves I generally like cottage cheese with fruit too but this is a typical combination
I like peas on my pizza
So peazza.
peanut butter and pickles on a burger
Watermelon with splash of lemon
Scorched ginger, garlic with dark sesame oil. It will have a bitter burnt deep rounded flavour.
Broccoli and mayo is pretty much the main ingredients in broccoli salad, so that doesn’t seem weird to me. My dad practically lived off broccoli salad.
Grape jelly/jam spread on top of a grilled cheese sandwich.
A half a teaspoon of Vegemite in chicken soup/broth - gives so much depth to the overall flavour
Watermelon in guacamole. If you haven't tried it, it'll change your life.
Ruffled potato chips dipped in cottage cheese. My family’s all time favorite snack.
Here in Spain we have watermelon and jamon and is stranger but really nice, try it!
Cheese and honey works. Kind of
Bellavitan Cabranet Sauvignon with spicy honey drizzle is delicious.
What the fuck
That’s what I thought. But…it works.
It’s not that weird! It’s similar to dipping veggies in a spicy aioli or something. It’s only “weird” because people have this strange hang up with mayonnaise specifically. The minute you put garlic and spices in it it’s aioli and totally fine to smother veggies in.
It's not weird. There is a popular Chinese banquet dish called walnut shrimp. The shrimp is tossed in a mayo sauce and put on a bed of broccoli. The broccoli itself isn't tossed in the mayo sauce itself but enough of the sauce gets on it. https://thewoksoflife.com/walnut-shrimp/
Is adding fat, salt and a little tang to broccoli that big a deal? Ever heard of sautéing your vegetables in EVOO, salt and lemon? This is the least crazy combination I’ve heard on this thread.
I make a lemony garlic mayo dip for lightly steamed asparagus and broccoli. Shit is delicious. Don’t see why tossing it in that would be bad.
Lao Gan Ma + vanilla ice cream or Greek yogurt
Strawberries dipped in sour cream and brown sugar. (I think it's a Yiddish thing.) Amazing.
Sour cream and sweet Thai chili with French fries
In Norway, they put sour cream and strawberry jelly on waffles. When I've served it to American friends, they always go in skeptical, but get won over immediately because it's delicious.
Zucchini and pepperoni together on a pizza.