I mean it’s… fruit and nut… Surely that’s not an inherently gross combo is it?
Yeah, here in the US grape jelly or jam is typically made from Concord grapes, which have a very particular kind of flavor to them (which is called “foxiness.”)
Strawberry jelly or jam is also fairly common for PB&J sandwiches, although you really can use any preserve you prefer.
Fellow Aussies: I think the Concord Grape flavor they describe is the flavor of Aeroplane Jelly’s Purple Grape variety. It tastes like America to me.
I love choc/peanut butter combos, but have never tried PBJ or wanted to.
I just never remember eating PB&J, as a kid. Only occasional PB sandwiches, but not one of those for years. No moral objection to them, or anything, it’s just never come up.
Anyway…Peanut Butter cookies? Sure, I’ll eat them. Not my favorites, but nothing particularly objectionable about them. It’s like Sushi, or Blackberries—it just doesn’t happen to be something I eat very often.
On a related note, I do rather enjoy Thai-style pizza, which uses a sort of spicy peanut sauce in lieu of tomatoes. Delicious—and hard to find frozen, nowadays.
Hoosier transplanted to Georgia here. I have not in my memory eaten a PBJ. I was offered one once when I was very young and I thought that it really didn’t sound good at all. I asked for just peanut butter, and that’s what I was given.
I like jelly or jam just fine, but I don’t usually keep it in the house. I mainly eat peanut butter or jelly on hot toast. Will I ever try a PBJ? Maybe, I can’t see why not, but I’m really not that curious about it.
Just curious, where were you reared?
In my experience, people from the UK (or countries heavily influenced by it) tend to be unfamiliar with PB&J, and often are really puzzled or even disgusted by the concept.
This, from the culture that brought us spray-on cheese and HFS by the gallon as a dietary staple?
When I have my breakfast toast I may have peanut butter on one piece, then after a generous sip of tea to cleanse the palette maybe one with tomato relish or Vegemite, then the tea again and then perhaps a sweeter version say maybe honey or a jam, I particularly favour apricot jam. This is bliss.
The notion of putting a combination, (I’m guessing for an American would consider having all) of those ingredients on the same piece of bread strikes me as being 1) indecisive and 2) akin to a primary school finger painting class where the vibrant primary colours get homogenised into a brown stodge.
Now I am well aware that by the conclusion of my breakfast the various condiments partaken will become mixed in the stomach … but my taste buds aren’t in my stomach.
Peanut butter is one of those weird foods for me, like tuna, ice cream, bacon and saurkraut. I can only eat them when I am in the mood. Otherwise just the smell of them makes me nauseous- except for ice cream which doesn’t have a strong smell.
Weird I know but sometimes I’ll get a craving for something I usually don’t like.
I don’t remember every eating a PB&J sandwich and don’t want to. I ate a lot of PB sandwiches growing up, standard lunchbox food, but I haven’t eaten one since I was a kid.
I can’t imagine even wanting one, sticky PB on mushy white bread that sticks to the roof of my mouth is yukky.
I won’t eat PB on toast because as soon as the PB hits the warm toast the smell makes me gag.
I will eat PB on crackers and it has to be chunky PB, none of that creamy stuff. I like Reese’s PB Cups but they have to be cold. I like Snickers and Mr Goodbar’s when I’m in the mood for them. I could go the rest of my life without eating another peanut and it wouldn’t bother me.
Y’all can have my share of PB cookies, they smell bad and taste worse.
Nah, it’s more like mixing blue and yellow to get a new wonderful, vibrant color, green. What a sad world it would be if everything had to be red, blue, or green, and no combination thereof.
I adore PB & J (but prefer non-sweet PB, like Smucker’s organic. And any jam or jelly or even marmalade is fine w/ me)
I cannot STAND PB cookies - blecch.
Satan’s Toejam seems to be the default flavour in America.
Be grateful.
No, it’s fruit jelly and nut. I have no problem with fruit-and-nut, hell, I’m munching handfuls of peanuts+raisins as i type. Marzipan-covered fruitcake is the best wedding cake. Walnut-and-fig preserve is the best accompaniment to a nice baked Camembert. Etc, etc.
It’s the particular combo of PB&J. Hell, PB&banana is much nicer.
Note that the only PB I eat is made without sugar or anything added other than a little salt. It might be that something in Jif/Skippy makes a magic taste combo with the unholy smegma that is Concord Grape Jelly, but I wouldn’t know.
America leaves a nasty aftertaste then.
That is, indeed, quite a lovely combination. Add bacon and you have the famous “Elvis sandwich.”
I actually prefer pb&j with unsweetened/natural peanut butter because it makes the contrast better. And I prefer the jelly to be raspberry preserves (Concord grape jelly is fine, but we never have it around the house.) That said, I also like peanut butter & cheese, peanut butter & hot chile peppers, hell, even peanut butter and Branston pickle.
I *wish *I’d liked PB&J sandwiches; it would have saved me many a hungry afternoon when that was the default served at camp, girl scout meetings, outings with friends, etc. I say “liked” because as an adult, avoiding the vile concoction is not an issue, but as a child it was a real bummer when every adult just assumed all the kiddies liked it. Not I. It *looked *gross, it *smelled *gross and, just no.
I do love peanut butter in any form, just keep your preserves the hell away from me.
As an aside, I see a lot of Aussies are responding. Is it your culture I have to thank for the lovely descriptor “Biafra’s cack”? The boyfriend, who is English but spent his childhood years in Oz loves to bust out this phrase whenever I eat PB (which, obviously he loathes). It’s hilarious but absolutely disgusting.
I grew up eating pb and bacon sammies which are just wonderful. I don’t eat them any more due to the calorie count, fat content, etc., but they are a very happy memory.
I never cared for grape jelly (yuck!), so the traditional PB&J never appealed to me. I do like peanut butter cookies and used to make them for my boys when they were kids. If you handed me one right now to go with my morning tea, I wouldn’t turn ya down.
I never did like the grape jelly. Strawberry preserves are my go to. Also, I prefer the plain old PB that separates if you leave it in the jar a while. Not a fan of Jiffy or Skip. But, I see no real need (in my life, anyways) for those $12 a jar specialty PBs either. I can’t tell a diff between those gourmet PBs and the fresh stuff from Sprout’s.
Some of the over the top responses to this subject are funny. In a general kind of way.
Big fan of peanut butter in all it’s forms: sandwiches, cookies, soups, Reese’s PB Cups, and even stirred into my morning oatmeal. Brand of preference is Smucker’s Natural. Not a big fan of fruit in general (except for citrus), and hate all jams, jellies, and marmalades.
I won’t go near a PB&J. As a youngster I loved Fluffernutters (PB & Marshmallow Fluff sandwiches), but they don’t particularly appeal to me any more. I do love sandwiches of PB & jalapenos (the peanut oil tempers the heat), PB & baby spinach, PB & imitation bacon bits, PB & maple syrup, PB & toasted coconut, and PB & mini chocolate chips. Never tried PB & pickles, but now I want to.
California, born and raised. (Northern California, specifically. 'Not one of those degenerate SoCals. )
Er, and for the record, I wasn’t quite clear on if the OP was asking for people from cultures that did or* didn’t* regularly eat PB&J. So, I rolled the dice.
I never eat peanut butter and jelly sandwichs. Now peanut butter and preserves? Totally different story. Jelly is that congealed weak juice stuff they put in the packets on the table at greasy spoon joints that are out by the highway. Preserves are at least mostly fruit. That I’ll slather over some Jif and stick between some multi grain to wash down with some ice cold milk.
I learned to enjoy Peanut Butter and Butter sandwiches as a kid. PB and J was fine, but sometimes mom just smeared a big dollop of Wisconsin’s finest lightly salted butter over the PB instead of jelly. Cuts the stickiness quite nicely, and makes for a nice savory sandwich instead of savory/sweet.
My dad would add raw onions to his PB and butter sandwiches though. That was nasty.
So, any of you out there butter your peanut butter?