# Pastry and meat combos are horrible **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 21, 2012, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pastry-and-meat-combos-are-horrible/644720 "2012-12-21T08:36:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [December 21, 2012, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pastry-and-meat-combos-are-horrible/644720/21 "2012-12-21T12:53:12Z")
I thought Combos (those pretzel-like snacks) had come out with a new flavor. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pastry-and-meat-combos-are-horrible/644720/22 "2012-12-21T13:01:09Z")
> [@Barking\_Dog](#): > > I’m fairly certain chicken and waffles isn’t a new invention. It’s been a southern whatever-the-opposite-of-delicacy-is for several decades at least, possibly longer. I think you’re reaching for “comfort food” there. I’ve never had chicken and waffles together, but I’ve certainly seen them on menus for a long time. I generally don’t enjoy sweet and savory flavors mixed together. It just doesn’t work for me. However, I consider the best part of Thanksgiving and Christmas to be the turkey pot pies afterwards. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pastry-and-meat-combos-are-horrible/644720/23 "2012-12-21T13:16:02Z")
I love sweet/savory combination foods. But McGriddles literally make my stomach roil. I dunno what it is…seems to be the doughy texture as much as the overwhelmingly fake butter odor. I’m not generally one to whine about “chemicals” in food, but that shit tastes like a chemistry set in the hands of a megalomaniacal 3 year old. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pastry-and-meat-combos-are-horrible/644720/24 "2012-12-21T13:35:19Z")
I’ve never had a McGriddle (probably never will; if I’m breakfasting at McD’s it’s Sausage McMuffin all the way), but don’t generally agree with your premise. Sweet and savory can be quite delicious. There’s a Minor League ballpark near St. Louis that sells a [bacon cheeseburger with a Krispy Kreme donut for a bun](http://baseballtrips.net/gw4.jpg), halved and turned inward so you don’t get your fingers sticky. It sounds (and looks) disgusting, but when I bit into it – oh my god. Enough calories for a week, but still. And if your definition of “pastry” is broad enough, Portillo’s has a beef and cheddar sandwich on a croissant that’s pretty awesome. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pastry-and-meat-combos-are-horrible/644720/25 "2012-12-21T15:11:13Z")
> [@grude](#): > > Dude I am no food snob, I love the bacon egg and cheese biscuit from McD’s and the egg mcmuffin ain’t bad either. Their burgers are pretty awful though. salt (of which fast food has an abundance) does enhance the flavor of even sweet foods. a sprinkle of flake salt on a caramel or a piece of good chocolate works wonders. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pastry-and-meat-combos-are-horrible/644720/26 "2012-12-21T15:13:35Z")
Out of curiosity, has the OP eaten the items mentioned (beyond the McGriddle)? Chicken and waffles are fantastic (assuming the chicken is good and the waffle is good). It is ok to not like it, but sweet and savory dishes are hardly an exercise in culinary masochism. And considering that pancakes with syrup, a side of eggs, and a breakfast meat, have been a stereotypical breakfast for a very long time it is hard to imagine that they’d be allowed on the same plate if having all three in a single bite were disgusting to the vast majority of people. And pigs in a blanket certainly aren’t an invention of the last half-decade. Hell, back when I was a kid and mom would make such breakfasts on the weekends, it was important to make sure that a little bit of the syrup got onto the sausage. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pastry-and-meat-combos-are-horrible/644720/27 "2012-12-21T15:47:02Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > McGriddles looked almost as disgusting to me as the abominable McRib. > > There’s no point, anyway. McDonald’s has the best fast food item out there (from a health point of view): the egg McMuffin – relatively low in calories and carbs and with plenty of protein. If they actually had cheese on them, they’d be perfect. They don’t? Egg McMuffins here come standard with cheese. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pastry-and-meat-combos-are-horrible/644720/28 "2012-12-21T15:54:43Z")
I think he’s trying to say that he doesn’t consider what they put on the sandwich to be cheese. On the rare occasions where I have a fast food breakfast, a mcgriddle is just the ticket. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pastry-and-meat-combos-are-horrible/644720/29 "2012-12-21T16:07:39Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > I think he’s trying to say that he doesn’t consider what they put on the sandwich to be cheese. :smack: Okay, I’ll agree with that. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pastry-and-meat-combos-are-horrible/644720/30 "2012-12-21T16:17:03Z")
My favorite meat/pastry combo is a Toad in a Hole. Yum! ---
**Author:** ![Osiris\_the\_1st](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9de0a6/32.png) [@Osiris\_the\_1st](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Osiris_the_1st)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pastry-and-meat-combos-are-horrible/644720/31 "2012-12-21T16:23:19Z")
While I will eat pancake with syryp and sausage together in the same bite, I also think that the McGriddles are probably the worst fast food I’ve ever put in my mouth. And a burger on donuts makes me nauseated just thinking about it. Slight highjack: > [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](#): > > Chicken and waffles is also delicious and traditional southern cuisine. Since when? I’m 35 years old, born an raised in Alabama, and never heard of this until the last couple of years. I assure you, I grew up around some very southern food traditions like grits, briscuits and chocolate gravy, poke salad, fried squirrel, etc. (FTR chocolate gravy is NASTY) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pastry-and-meat-combos-are-horrible/644720/32 "2012-12-21T16:48:01Z")
> [@Barking\_Dog](#): > > whatever-the-opposite-of-delicacy-is “Staple.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pastry-and-meat-combos-are-horrible/644720/33 "2012-12-21T17:48:58Z")
> [@Osiris\_the\_1st](#): > > Since when? I’m 35 years old, born an raised in Alabama, and never heard of this until the last couple of years. I assure you, I grew up around some very southern food traditions like grits, briscuits and chocolate gravy, poke salad, fried squirrel, etc. (FTR chocolate gravy is NASTY) Don’t know if this is true but I’d always been told it was a dish that came out of the northern migration in the 30s and 40s. Anyway, Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles has been in L.A. since 1975. Wells Supper Club in Harlem was doing it in the '40s. Here’s a 1917 menu from the Herald Square Hotel (presumably in NYC) that was serving it: [http://menus.nypl.org/menu\_pages/68477](http://menus.nypl.org/menu_pages/68477) ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pastry-and-meat-combos-are-horrible/644720/34 "2012-12-21T19:17:38Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > I generally don’t enjoy sweet and savory flavors mixed together. It just doesn’t work for me. However, I consider the best part of Thanksgiving and Christmas to be the turkey pot pies afterwards. I have the same distaste for the sweet/savory combo you do. I thought I was some sort of mutant freak. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pastry-and-meat-combos-are-horrible/644720/35 "2012-12-21T19:19:35Z")
> [@Osiris\_the\_1st](#): > > Since when? I’m 35 years old, born an raised in Alabama, and never heard of this until the last couple of years. I assure you, I grew up around some very southern food traditions like grits, briscuits and chocolate gravy, poke salad, fried squirrel, etc. (FTR chocolate gravy is NASTY) Not wanting to sound racist, but I for some reason want to associate the chicken&waffles combo with black cuisine (that would be the “soul food” category, right?). ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pastry-and-meat-combos-are-horrible/644720/36 "2012-12-21T19:54:11Z")
Is chicken and waffles fried chicken with a side of waffles, which sounds delicious, or chicken wrapped in a waffle with syrup, which sounds messy? ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pastry-and-meat-combos-are-horrible/644720/37 "2012-12-21T20:05:47Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > Same. I was thinking puff pastry, not pancakes. Nobody ever thinks of pancakes ☹ On a more helpful note, I think the reason most people here recoil in horror at the McGriddle is that they tried theirs with the slice of American cheese. I had found myself pretty “meh” about fast food breakfast sandwiches until one day I was making my own breakfast sandwich I realized that I was using mozzarella and not the gross processed cheese-like product. You ask for no cheese and you’ll find yourself enjoying those sandwiches a lot more, but as always ymmv. Edit to add: I grew up in Richmond and heard of chicken and waffles but rarely did people make it of any race. It’s more of a diner thing. double edit: it’s chicken with a side of waffles but the syrup gets everywhere and it’s still pretty messy. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pastry-and-meat-combos-are-horrible/644720/38 "2012-12-21T20:43:59Z")
Don’t forget the culinary wonder that are corn dogs. Dipped in mustard? Oh so bad for you. Oh so tasty! Not a meat/pastry thing, but my uncle likes putting maple syrup on latkes. _blech_ ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pastry-and-meat-combos-are-horrible/644720/39 "2012-12-21T21:01:02Z")
Meh. When I was a kid, I used to wrap breakfast sausages in small pancakes and eat them with faux maple syrup. I absolutely understand the appeal. Sweet + salty + smokey or fatty porky= yum to me. It’s not exactly a unique flavor combination. Look at your barbecue sauces. In this case, the sweetness (and possibly fruit) is in the bread instead of the sauce. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pastry-and-meat-combos-are-horrible/644720/40 "2012-12-21T21:15:28Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Is chicken and waffles fried chicken with a side of waffles, which sounds delicious, or chicken wrapped in a waffle with syrup, which sounds messy? Yes, that is generally the way but recently I have seen some places that do serve them more as a sandwich (I know one of the food stands in the newly expanded Fantasyland at Walt Disney World are selling these and people say they’re really good). Haven’t had it myself so not sure how syrup plays into the occasion. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pastry-and-meat-combos-are-horrible/644720.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pastry-and-meat-combos-are-horrible/644720.md?page=3)