Strange combinations

xoxoxoBruce · 11-25-2008, 11:53 AM

Top 10 Unusual Food Combinations

10. Carrots and Sugar
While it may seem strange to add sugar to vegetables, it is a very common method of preparing carrots in France. The technical term for this dish is Vichy Carrots, in which you combine Carrots, Salt, Pepper, sugar, and Vichy water (a sparkling water from the Vichy region) and cook them down until the carrots are glazed. The sugar heightens the flavor of the carrots and the end result is a stunning dish of brilliantly orange vegetables.

9. Coffee and Salt
Add a touch of salt to coffee to heighten the flavor - this is a very common use of salt as it is used in virtually all dishes (including sweet dishes served for pudding). Just a pinch is enough to make a brilliant espresso.

8. Tomatoes and Sugar
Use sugar, not salt. Tomatoes are already acidic and the addition of salt just increases that acidic flavor. Sugar sweetens and increases the tomato flavor. Tomatoes are fruits after all.

7. Chocolate and Coffee
When baking with chocolate, add a little coffee - it strengthens the chocolate flavor without adding a strong coffee flavor.

6. Meat and Aniseed
When stewing meat, throw in a star anise - you can’t taste the aniseed but the flavor adds a deep richness to the meat. This is a trick used in all meat dishes by Heston Blumenthal the owner of the Fat Duck (3 Michelin stars) - voted the world’s best restaurant for three years in a row.

5. Cooking tomatoes and Foliage
Throw in a tomato branch - the branch contains all of the flavor that we love in tomatoes - pick a leaf and smell it and you will see what I mean. Simply throw in a small stick of the tomato plant and it will give your cooked tomatoes a much stronger tomato flavor.

4. Potatoes and Nutmeg
Add nutmeg - just a little - it adds a depth to the potatoes that people won’t recognize, but will definitely like. This is true of virtually every potato dish.

3. Chili and Chocolate
Add chocolate to chili. It deepens the meaty flavor of the chili while giving a strong base note to the peppers. This is a trick well known in the South where Chili bake-offs are common.

2. Apples and Vanilla
Apples are very acidic and normally require some sugar in their cooking. Most people add nutmeg or cinnamon to their apple dishes, but vanilla extract adds a deep layer of flavor that most people won’t recognize but will certainly appreciate.

1. Strawberries and Pepper
Strawberries (fresh) are usually served with a sprinkling of confectioners sugar, but the addition of very finely ground pepper (from fresh corns) heightens the flavor.

Juniper · 11-25-2008, 12:53 PM

I make carrots and sugar all the time. DH prefers them with honey glaze, but I like a touch of brown sugar.

Chili and chocolate -- that's OK but I like cinnamon in mine.

wolf · 11-25-2008, 12:59 PM

Lindt makes a Chili Dark Chocolate Bar that is magnificent. The chilis add a bit of bite, but don't overpower the chocolate flavor. (Not all of the Chili-Chocolate bars are that good ... some are too gritty.)

lumberjim · 11-25-2008, 01:03 PM

thanks, bruce. that is knowledge. and knowledge is power. now ....I am more powerful.

glatt · 11-25-2008, 01:04 PM

but you used time to read it, and time is money. Money is power. So you lost power reading it.

lumberjim · 11-25-2008, 01:04 PM

drat!

Flint · 11-25-2008, 01:10 PM

It might have been a wash, who knows?

It depends on the information density.

Shawnee123 · 11-25-2008, 01:30 PM

Fresh homemade still-hot yeast doughnuts rolled in sugar, and beer. I kid you not.

Cloud · 11-25-2008, 02:08 PM

many of those combos are well known; carrots and sugar, chili and chocolate, and chocolate and coffee--come on! that's classic.

I'm going to try the nutmeg in potatoes thing.

classicman · 11-25-2008, 02:13 PM

What?

Loukianos · 11-25-2008, 02:13 PM

I could go for pretty much all of those (especially chocolate and chili!!! Habenero hot chocolate is my favourite)...but isn't tomato foliage mildly toxic?

Radar · 11-25-2008, 02:27 PM

My grandmother once made me a peanut butter and mayo sandwich, and while it sounds horrifyingly disgusting, I was shocked that it was pretty good. They used to also get bread, spread butter on it, and sprinkle sugar on it.

classicman · 11-25-2008, 02:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Radar

My grandmother once made me a peanut butter and mayo sandwich, and while it sounds horrifyingly disgusting, I was shocked that it was pretty good.

so thats what happened.

jinx · 11-25-2008, 02:37 PM

They forgot the vodka with the strawberries and pepper.

Quote:

but isn't tomato foliage mildly toxic?

Yes, they are members of the nightshade family and contain glycoalkloids... or something. It's didn't say to eat the stick though, just to add it to cooking tomatoes.
You're not supposed to eat green tomatoes for the same reason, but lots of people do and seem to live thru it.

Radar · 11-25-2008, 02:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by classicman

so thats what happened.

I ate it, and later I shared this combo with my wife's cousin. He likes it too.

11-25-2008, 11:53 AM	#1
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	Strange combinations Top 10 Unusual Food Combinations 10. Carrots and Sugar While it may seem strange to add sugar to vegetables, it is a very common method of preparing carrots in France. The technical term for this dish is Vichy Carrots, in which you combine Carrots, Salt, Pepper, sugar, and Vichy water (a sparkling water from the Vichy region) and cook them down until the carrots are glazed. The sugar heightens the flavor of the carrots and the end result is a stunning dish of brilliantly orange vegetables. 9. Coffee and Salt Add a touch of salt to coffee to heighten the flavor - this is a very common use of salt as it is used in virtually all dishes (including sweet dishes served for pudding). Just a pinch is enough to make a brilliant espresso. 8. Tomatoes and Sugar Use sugar, not salt. Tomatoes are already acidic and the addition of salt just increases that acidic flavor. Sugar sweetens and increases the tomato flavor. Tomatoes are fruits after all. 7. Chocolate and Coffee When baking with chocolate, add a little coffee - it strengthens the chocolate flavor without adding a strong coffee flavor. 6. Meat and Aniseed When stewing meat, throw in a star anise - you can’t taste the aniseed but the flavor adds a deep richness to the meat. This is a trick used in all meat dishes by Heston Blumenthal the owner of the Fat Duck (3 Michelin stars) - voted the world’s best restaurant for three years in a row. 5. Cooking tomatoes and Foliage Throw in a tomato branch - the branch contains all of the flavor that we love in tomatoes - pick a leaf and smell it and you will see what I mean. Simply throw in a small stick of the tomato plant and it will give your cooked tomatoes a much stronger tomato flavor. 4. Potatoes and Nutmeg Add nutmeg - just a little - it adds a depth to the potatoes that people won’t recognize, but will definitely like. This is true of virtually every potato dish. 3. Chili and Chocolate Add chocolate to chili. It deepens the meaty flavor of the chili while giving a strong base note to the peppers. This is a trick well known in the South where Chili bake-offs are common. 2. Apples and Vanilla Apples are very acidic and normally require some sugar in their cooking. Most people add nutmeg or cinnamon to their apple dishes, but vanilla extract adds a deep layer of flavor that most people won’t recognize but will certainly appreciate. 1. Strawberries and Pepper Strawberries (fresh) are usually served with a sprinkling of confectioners sugar, but the addition of very finely ground pepper (from fresh corns) heightens the flavor. __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

11-25-2008, 12:59 PM	#3
wolf lobber of scimitars Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Phila Burbs Posts: 20,774	Lindt makes a Chili Dark Chocolate Bar that is magnificent. The chilis add a bit of bite, but don't overpower the chocolate flavor. (Not all of the Chili-Chocolate bars are that good ... some are too gritty.) __________________ wolf eht htiw og "Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception." --G. Edward Griffin The Creature from Jekyll Island High Priestess of the Church of the Whale Penis

11-25-2008, 01:03 PM	#4
lumberjim I can hear my ears Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 25,571	thanks, bruce. that is knowledge. and knowledge is power. now ....I am more powerful. __________________ This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality Embrace this moment, remember We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion ~MJKeenan

11-25-2008, 01:04 PM	#6
lumberjim I can hear my ears Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 25,571	drat! __________________ This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality Embrace this moment, remember We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion ~MJKeenan

11-25-2008, 01:10 PM	#7
Flint Snowflake Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Dystopia Posts: 13,136	It might have been a wash, who knows? It depends on the information density. __________________ **************** There's a level of facility that everyone needs to accomplish, and from there it's a matter of deciding for yourself how important ultra-facility is to your expression. ... I found, like Joseph Campbell said, if you just follow whatever gives you a little joy or excitement or awe, then you're on the right track. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Terry Bozzio**

11-25-2008, 12:53 PM	#2
Juniper I know, right? Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 1,539	I make carrots and sugar all the time. DH prefers them with honey glaze, but I like a touch of brown sugar. Chili and chocolate -- that's OK but I like cinnamon in mine.

11-25-2008, 01:04 PM	#5
glatt ™ Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 27,717	but you used time to read it, and time is money. Money is power. So you lost power reading it.

11-25-2008, 01:30 PM	#8
Shawnee123 Why, you're a regular Alfred E Einstein, ain't ya? Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 21,206	Fresh homemade still-hot yeast doughnuts rolled in sugar, and beer. I kid you not. __________________ A word to the wise ain't necessary - it's the stupid ones who need the advice. --Bill Cosby

11-25-2008, 02:08 PM	#9
Cloud ... Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 8,360	many of those combos are well known; carrots and sugar, chili and chocolate, and chocolate and coffee--come on! that's classic. I'm going to try the nutmeg in potatoes thing. __________________ "Guard your honor. Let your reputation fall where it will. And outlive the bastards!"

11-25-2008, 02:13 PM	#10
classicman barely disguised asshole, keeper of all that is holy. Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 23,401	What? __________________ "like strapping a pillow on a bull in a china shop" Bullitt

11-25-2008, 02:13 PM	#11
Loukianos Provocateur Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Mainly on the East Coast Posts: 9	I could go for pretty much all of those (especially chocolate and chili!!! Habenero hot chocolate is my favourite)...but isn't tomato foliage mildly toxic?

11-25-2008, 02:27 PM	#12
Radar Constitutional Scholar Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Ocala, FL Posts: 4,006	My grandmother once made me a peanut butter and mayo sandwich, and while it sounds horrifyingly disgusting, I was shocked that it was pretty good. They used to also get bread, spread butter on it, and sprinkle sugar on it. __________________ "I'm completely in favor of the separation of Church and State. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death." - George Carlin

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