12 Taste Combinations That Seem Absurd but Actually Deserve Michelin Stars

Nobody knows what the first person who tried to dip French fries into a milkshake was thinking. But thanks to these experiments, we have this so-called food pairing — the art of combining the tastes of foods that seem impossible to combine.

We at Bright Side love new and unusual things, so we were really interested to read these users’ stories about the weird taste combinations that they have tried and loved. And we are on our way to the supermarket to buy ice cream, salt, and olive oil!

1. Bread, butter, and watermelon

Cold watermelon and bread and butter, on a hot day. Keep the watermelon in the fridge for a couple of days, so it is really cold, get any fresh bread of your choice, and use real butter, with salt. Because the melon is cold, it stops the butter from melting in your mouth, so you have to chew until all the flavors blend. If you combine fat, sugar, flavor, and a thickening agent, you get ice cream. We grew watermelon by the tons, so this was our treat on a hot day. © Peter Todaro / Quora

2. Corn with cheese and lime salt

This is actually gaining in popularity now, but when my husband first introduced me to it I was like, “Are you serious?” It definitely taught me to be willing to try anything at least once, since it has now become one of my favorite foods. What is this delicious, amazing, scrumptious delicacy you ask? It’s elote! In case you are wondering, elote is a fairly simple dish consisting of one ear of white corn, slathered in mayonnaise, then rolled in parmesan cheese and dusted with chili lime salt. When fresh corn is out of season, we like to make it in a cup using canned white corn. It is sweet, tangy, spicy, really almost the perfect snack! © Jeannette Uzeta / Quora

3. French fries with ice cream instead of ketchup

My roommate came back from Wendy’s with a Frosty and fries and I asked if he was dipping them in his shake. He looked at me disgusted and I had to convince him to try it. Now he keeps asking me where my food wisdom came from. © FhaeShine / Reddit

4. Cheese with honey and coffee

Cheddar cheese + ground coffee + honey. I saw this one on one of Jamie Oliver’s shows. I tried it out and loved it! On a slice of cheddar put honey and coffee grounds and pop it in your mouth. It is bombastic! © Clara Mev / Quora

5. Grilled eggplant slices with chocolate

I just tried it out a few hours ago for the first time: grilled eggplant slices (frozen pack kind: once you unfreeze them they are quite nicely dry, they lose their mushy watery trait; and that’s good in this case) covered with melted chocolate. The taste is surprisingly great! There are actually proper recipes when it comes to this combination. © Alessandra Munari / Quora

6. Vanilla ice cream, olive oil, and sea salt

One of the tastiest treats I’ve had started from reading it on a menu and thinking to myself, “Ew, really?” The waitress insisted we try it and if we did not like it, she would pay for it. Since she was so confident about how good this dessert was, I decided to try it. It only took one bite. The smoothness, cold, and creamy sensations as I devoured this first bite had me hooked. It melted in my mouth as I was scooping my next bite. How could something that only included 3 ingredients be so good? Ever since then it has been one of my favorite treats because it is so easy to make at home. © Laura Potter / Quora

7. Half a walnut, Bulgarian feta, and a basil leaf

Half a walnut, Bulgarian feta, and a basil leaf. My Iranian friend introduced me to this, it’s a bit awkward to make, but man it is an amazing flavor explosion. The crunch of the nut, the creamy cheese, and the herbal pop that comes from the basil. It’s one of those things that you think you will only have one of, but before you know it you have been hovering over the serving dish eating little nut bundles for like 20 minutes and your pants no longer fit. © vylettefairwell / Reddit

8. Pumpkin, meat, yogurt, mint

One of my favorite foods is an Afghan dish called kaddo bourani. It consists of pumpkin slices candied in sugar, meat sauce, yogurt, and mint. There’s a similar dish where the mint leaves are stuffed into ravioli and everything else is dumped on top. If you layer all of these things inside another pumpkin that’s been carved into a bowl with a lid, it makes an edible Thanksgiving centerpiece! © shinkouhyou / Reddit

9. Beef and octopus

It wasn’t my discovery but I was shocked at how good it was. One of my favorite Korean places in Washington, DC has a dish called “Bullak Jeongol” that is a Korean casserole with beef, octopus, and lots of other goodness. It’s made for 2. It is literally the best thing that I’ve ever eaten. On the way home, I commented to my friend, who is trained as a chef, that I’d have never thought to combine something as strongly flavored as beef with something as delicately flavored as octopus. But, man alive! Was it awesome! © Charlie Rand / Quora

10. Cheese with condensed milk

I was visiting a friend that makes cheese. It was early morning, so he offered to make me breakfast. He made tea and cut some cheese cubes. I thought it was time to eat, but he took some condensed milk he made himself, poured it into a cup, and told me to dip the cheese in the milk! It was incredible! © PicaChel / Pikabu

11. Bacon and glazed cherries

Bacon and glazed cherries (for baking). Wrap a cherry in a slice of bacon, skewer it with a toothpick, and put it in the oven until the bacon is done. Heaven in your mouth! © snitchnipple / Reddit

12. Apple pie with cheese

My family thinks it’s normal to eat apple pie with cheese. The first time my girlfriend had apple pie with my family, she swore we were insane. © theuselessgeneration / Reddit

Did you feel hungry while reading these descriptions? We did! What weird taste combinations do you like the most?