# Foods that you serendipitously found to go very well together **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 10, 2014, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-you-serendipitously-found-to-go-very-well-together/698068 "2014-09-10T14:19:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-you-serendipitously-found-to-go-very-well-together/698068/41 "2014-09-11T01:06:49Z")
Chinese food, and a good berry smoothie. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-you-serendipitously-found-to-go-very-well-together/698068/42 "2014-09-11T01:54:54Z")
This wasn’t really serendipity, but a few years ago at the Hollywood Bowl, the people in the seats next to us brought figs stuffed with bleu cheese. It was amazing (nice people, I would never share something that good 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-you-serendipitously-found-to-go-very-well-together/698068/43 "2014-09-11T02:12:20Z")
These days they even sell Tabasco-flavored ketchup, but when a co-worker first introduced me to it, I’d never heard of it before. It doesn’t really work with any other hot sauce I’ve tried, but Tabasco-ketchup on fries is excellent. Our standard pizza combination is similar to, but slightly different from, Greek pizza: it’s spinach, feta, and walnuts. The walnuts make the thing work. But my weirdest one was when I was on a long drive with a container of spicy Indian food, vegetables in a cream sauce. I didn’t have a fork, so I stopped at Bojangles and got a plain biscuit to pile the stuff on. It was delicious–the biscuit kind of filled the same niche as naan. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-you-serendipitously-found-to-go-very-well-together/698068/44 "2014-09-11T03:32:21Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Major Grey’s chutney on Cool Ranch Doritos. That sounds good. > [@Ruby\_Slippers](#): > > When I was in grade school, one of the (meatless) Friday staples in our school cafeteria was macaroni and cheese paired with harvard beets. It was one of the few meals I actually liked, and to this day, I’ve got to have harvard beets with my mac and cheese (and the mac and cheese has to be homemade from scratch). I love harvard beets, and I love mac n cheese, I need to try the combination. > [@koeeoaddi](#): > > Also, cayenne pepper in brownies and hot chocolate and black pepper or jalapeño peppers in apple pie. My roomie makes chocolatl chip cornmeal based cookies for a celiac friend of ours. She will split the batch an dmake some base and add finely chopped jalapenos to the other half of the batch. > [@Flywheel](#): > > A chicken sandwich on cinnamon raisin toast. I used to get the cinnamon raisin bagel chips to use as croutons on my chicken noodle soup. > [@njtt](#): > > Nobody believes me - I didn’t believe it myself until stuck with these as the only snacking options available to me - but coffee and salt and vinegar crisps (chips to you Americans). I do that whenever we do crisps, I am not into sweets much but I adore salt n vinegar crisps. I am also one of those odd Americans who likes Vegemite, musk candies and will put malt vinegar on chips. [URL=“[http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/](http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/)”] ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-you-serendipitously-found-to-go-very-well-together/698068/45 "2014-09-11T03:46:08Z")
Noodles from a can of chicken noodle soup, cooked, and spooned onto Muncho’s chips. ---
**Author:** ![Elemenopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5e925/32.png) [@Elemenopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elemenopy)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-you-serendipitously-found-to-go-very-well-together/698068/46 "2014-09-11T06:27:38Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > Sloe gin and Mountain Dew, 50/50 ratio. Just tonight, I discovered [Zwack](http://cocktails.about.com/od/liqueurscordials/fr/Zwack-Unicum-Liqueur-Review.htm)and [50/50 soda](http://www.beveragesdirect.com/Canfields-50-50-Soda.aspx). Wow! > [@Cheerleading\_Dropout](#): > > Also, when I cut up Granny Smith apples and add lime juice (to keep them from browning), I sometimes add a little bit of cinnamon as well, and the sour-sweet-spicy thing works surprisingly well. I have occasionally made “raw apple pie”: sliced Grannies, cinnamon, brown sugar, salt, and melted butter tumbled together. It’s delicious. > [@Ruby\_Slippers](#): > > When I was in grade school, one of the (meatless) Friday staples in our school cafeteria was macaroni and cheese paired with harvard beets. It was one of the few meals I actually liked, and to this day, I’ve got to have harvard beets with my mac and cheese (and the mac and cheese has to be homemade from scratch). When I was in school they always served chili with peanut butter sandwiches. I still eat it this way about half the time. I wonder if they did that to “complete a protein” (may have been soy in the chili) or to accommodate kids who didn’t care for chili. Whatever, it’s a rocking combination. > [@Flywheel](#): > > A chicken sandwich on cinnamon raisin toast. A chicken SALAD sandwich on cinnamon raisin toast. An old-fashioned luncheonette downtown in my old town served it that way (with carrot-raisin salad!) and it became my favorite thing to order. > [@lieu](#): > > Pico de gallo on cottage cheese. The pico I get is a little tangy and mixed with the relatively creamy and salty cottage cheese it’s absolutely wonderful, my last mini-meal before bed most evenings. Been doing this forever…or just chopped tomato and bell pepper if I have nothing salsa-like in the house. Plain cottage cheese is good with lemon pepper and parsley, too. > [@Quimby](#): > > Also most of the foods I use pepper on now I learned I liked it because I accidentally put pepper on them the first time. Cracked black pepper on canned pears is really interesting–I discovered that by accident at a buffet. In college I “invented” blue cheese dressing on black bean soup. Usually with a side sandwich of cucumber, sprouts, provolone and swiss, which ended up tasting a lot like Camembert. Cold fried chicken dipped in chunky applesauce. Not that unusual, but I love leftover ham (especially if it has crispy, fat edges) on toast with cream cheese AND butter. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-you-serendipitously-found-to-go-very-well-together/698068/47 "2014-09-11T07:42:05Z")
Bacon (or salami) sandwich with peanut butter. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-you-serendipitously-found-to-go-very-well-together/698068/48 "2014-09-11T08:46:03Z")
[ol] [li]Peanut butter on apple slices has been my favorite snack since forever.[/li][li]Of all the combinations of two flavors I’ve ever encountered, cinnamon+vanilla is truly a match made in heaven.[/li][li]My GF just turned me on to sesame sticks topped with ranch dressing, and it’s instant addiction.[/li][/ol] ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-you-serendipitously-found-to-go-very-well-together/698068/49 "2014-09-11T12:37:54Z")
It wasn’t really serendipity, because I could taste it in my mind before I tried it, but pears and anise are a really lovely combination - in various forms; my favourite being brioche tart with pear slices baked into it, then the whole thing drenched in anise syrup. ---
**Author:** ![CheshireKat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheshirekat/32/1207_2.png) [@CheshireKat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheshireKat)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-you-serendipitously-found-to-go-very-well-together/698068/50 "2014-09-11T13:40:46Z")
Cinnamon in hot chocolate, and cinnamon added to chocolate cake or brownies. Mmmmm ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-you-serendipitously-found-to-go-very-well-together/698068/51 "2014-09-11T14:02:55Z")
Leeks and many other bland/mild tasting foods like mashed potatoes. I make a leek and swiss chard tart that is delicious. Leeks are, overall, under appreciated IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-you-serendipitously-found-to-go-very-well-together/698068/52 "2014-09-11T14:21:09Z")
Curry paste is quite nice mixed into mashed potatoes. Also instant grits can give a nice bit of body to certain Indian dishes like Chicken Masala. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-you-serendipitously-found-to-go-very-well-together/698068/53 "2014-09-11T17:41:32Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Nobody believes me - I didn’t believe it myself until stuck with these as the only snacking options available to me - but coffee and salt and vinegar crisps (chips to you Americans). I believe it; I actually looked up my coffee/bacon combo, and apparently salt knocks the bitterness down from coffee, so I bet that’s part of what’s going on with the salt & vinegar in your example. ---
**Author:** ![SUZ\_MAC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e8cbc/32.png) [@SUZ\_MAC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SUZ_MAC)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-you-serendipitously-found-to-go-very-well-together/698068/54 "2014-09-11T20:53:41Z")
Peanut and mayo on cheap white bread. I haven’t had one in a very long time, but growing up they were a staple after school snack. ---
**Author:** ![rucciface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ba9def/32.png) [@rucciface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rucciface)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-you-serendipitously-found-to-go-very-well-together/698068/55 "2014-09-11T21:10:30Z")
Ritz crackers washed down with Diet Dr. Pepper. This is what I had as a snack at my desk one day, and the flavors went so surprisingly well together that I actually had a moment with myself! ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-you-serendipitously-found-to-go-very-well-together/698068/56 "2014-09-11T21:47:16Z")
I’ve found that peanut butter goes with practically everything. I was turned onto granny smiths on a grilled cheese with a dab of dijon mustard. The mustard and grannies are like opposites that compliment each other. Now I just dip grannies into the mustard. Also I was turned onto these brie raspberry chipolte puff pastry things and loved them and then I found this recipe for brie raspberry chipolte sauce. > **[Brie With Raspberry Chipotle Sauce Recipe - Cheese.Food.com](https://www.food.com/recipe/brie-with-raspberry-chipotle-sauce-91163)** > > A quick & easy treat for your guests! The sauce can be made ahead, covered & refrigerated for up to 3 days. If raspberries aren't available (o Some days that goes on everything. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-you-serendipitously-found-to-go-very-well-together/698068/57 "2014-09-11T23:00:45Z")
Sriracha sauce stirred into spaghetti sauce/pasta. Good in pizza sauce, too. Adds just the right heat. Also, Sriracha on hot dogs (instead of ketchup). ---
**Author:** ![Grestarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grestarian/32/3227_2.png) [@Grestarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grestarian)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-you-serendipitously-found-to-go-very-well-together/698068/58 "2014-09-12T00:30:07Z")
Back when Square Pan Pizza was a booming business franchise, they had a $1 pepperoni slice deal and kept several pepperoni pizzas going for the slice-buyers. There was one near the theater where I worked and we employees would unofficially trade sodas and popcorn for slices of pizza. One afternoon I was in the mood for “Hawaiian Style” (Canadian Bacon and Pineapple) pizza and asked one of the server guys for a slice. He said he couldn’t make a whole pizza for giveaways, so I asked if he could just throw some pineapple on a slice of the standard pepperoni. Wow! The mild spiciness of the pepperoni balanced by the sweet smoothness of pineapple! Long ago I was at a Denny’s and, on a whim, I ordered a grilled-cheese sandwich and a side of bacon. The waitress asked if I wanted those slices inside the sandwich. Apparently I wasn’t being as innovative as I thought. It’s kind of a hand-sized-heart-attack but not so uncommon, I guess. A couple years back, I butterfly-cut a croissant and lightly toasted it, then built a BLT with it. YUM! That’s another decadent hand-sized-heart-attack. I should try it with cheese–after I lose a few pounds first. A couple weeks ago my wife bought fresh rosemary for a recipe and used about a half-teaspon from a cup-worth. I ground up the leftover needles and made rosemary mayonnaise with the rest so it wouldn’t go to waste. Later, when I was making Manwhich/Sloppy Joes (chile burgers?) I was going to toast up a bun with some mayo on it. I saw the rosemary mayo and decided on a whim to try that in the toasting process. Wow! That kicked it up a bit! –G! ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-you-serendipitously-found-to-go-very-well-together/698068/59 "2014-09-12T00:40:31Z")
> [@Flywheel](#): > > A chicken sandwich on cinnamon raisin toast. Reminds me of when I was visiting my sister’s family in Texas and wanted to make French toast for breakfast. Sitting atop their fridge was most of a loaf of cheddar cheese bread. Somebody gave it to them, they sampled it and atop the fridge it went. So I used it and it turned out so good that sometimes I’ll get jalapeño cheddar bread specifically for French toast. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-you-serendipitously-found-to-go-very-well-together/698068/60 "2014-09-12T14:46:42Z")
Barbecue sauce on pizza. Most salty snacks go well with ice cream. My favorite ia Multi Grain Dipping Chips with Ben & Jerry’s Pineapple Passion Fruit Greek Yoghurt. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-you-serendipitously-found-to-go-very-well-together/698068.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-you-serendipitously-found-to-go-very-well-together/698068.md?page=4)