Top 10 Controversial Food Combinations

Despite what Sheldon’s mother told him on “The Big Bang Theory,” spaghetti with hot dogs cut up in it isn’t a “real Eye-talian treat.” And the same can be said for pasta with ketchup. Gianluigi Zenti (dzennn-tee), president of food culture organization Academia Barilla (awca-DAME-YA bah-REEL-la), calls it horrifying when he hears people ask for such a combination. As he put it in an interview back in 2013, “It has nothing to do with Italian cuisine.” Just because they both have tomatoes in them doesn’t make ketchup and tomato sauce the same thing. So keep it off your pasta. Unless you live in Canada and the pasta in question is Kraft Dinner. In that case, it’s your duty as a Canadian to at least try it with ketchup.

Pickles and ice cream is a combo food craving often associated with pregnant women. And if you’re doing the incredible and carrying around a human being inside you, then we see no controversy in any food combo you desire. Anyone bringing a life into this world can crave whatever they want. For the rest of us, chowing down on things like pickles and ice cream or pickles and chocolate rightly comes with some divisive looks. On the surface, it might seem to make sense as a salty/sweet contrasting combination. But you can’t forget about the briney-juiciness that, for many, is an extra step their taste buds refuse to make.

Although you might not automatically think of banana and bacon pairing well together, they are both food items associated with breakfast. So, it isn’t crazy that the combo would come up at some point. And while you can find a number of bacon wrapped banana recipes online, if you want the king of all banana and bacon recipes, you are going to need to add peanut butter to the mix. And with that, you can now partake in, what is often referred to as, the Elvis Sandwich. While delicious, it’s also probably one of the reasons he had to wear large one-piece suits on stage in the latter half of his career. So, maybe don’t make them a daily thing.

Imagine walking into your local ice cream parlor and ordering ice cream. Now imagine deciding what to top it with and, along with chocolate syrup, sprinkles, and crushed up M&Ms, they also offered extra virgin olive oil. If this was the classic “Sesame Street” game ‘one of these things is not like the others’ we would probably all select the olive oil as the item that doesn’t belong. However, there are a growing number of folks who swear by the ice cream/olive oil combination due to the alternative fattiness of the olive oil in contrast to the cool sweetness of the ice cream. There are also those that insist a little sea salt takes the whole dish to the next level as well.

You may have heard the expression that “An apple pie without the cheese is like a kiss without the squeeze.” And while we can probably all agree that a kiss with a squeeze is ideal, we definitely don’t all enjoy cheddar cheese with our apple pie. In fact, unless you’re from Britain or New England and the upper midwest of the United States, it’s a combo you might not have even ever heard of. But it is most definitely a thing and a very divisive thing at that, with those who can’t imagine a slice of apple pie without a piece of cheese accompanying it and those that believe ice cream is the only acceptable apple pie partner.

We know of one older lady who would definitely put hot sauce on her ice cream. But she puts that um… “stuff” on everything. As for the rest of us, this might seem like a much more unlikely pairing. Even the heat lovers out there. You know the ones who carry a bottle of their favorite hot sauce with them everywhere they go. Even those folks have probably never considered taking that bottle out after dinner. And yet there are those that swear by the cool/heat contrast. Now, if you don’t like hot sauce on your savory foods, then this probably isn’t for you. But if you dig a little heat with dinner, then you gotta try it with dessert.

The PB&J is a classic, Elvis loved a PB&B, but what about the PB&P - where the second “P” stands for “pickle?” A version of this sandwich has been around for a century, with deli’s using relish instead of pickles during the Great Depression. Since then a pickle version has had its fans, but it wasn’t until 2012 when this odd-sounding sammy burst on the scene when the New York Times wrote an article praising it. And while not everyone was impressed with the briney, peanut combination, it did grow the sandwich’s cult status. In this sandwich the pickle might seem out of place, whereas on a burger it would be peanut butter that might seem odd. But according to many, it’s delicious!

Hold on! We know what you’re saying. “Of course, you put ketchup on a hot dog, so why is this one on the list?” Unless you’re from Chicago. In that case you’re saying, “of course you never put ketchup on a hot dog, so why is this one on the list?” And that’s why it’s on the list! You might not know it, but putting ketchup on a hot dog is one of the most controversial things you can do, specifically in the Windy City. But they aren’t the only ones to feel this way. Do you want to argue with Dirty Harry?

This is probably going to come as a big surprise to four-fifths of you but, according to a survey done by Kellog back in 2015, one-fifth of Americans put orange juice on their cereal instead of milk! And to some foodies out there, that’s one-fifth too many. Not only is that way more sugar than one needs in the morning, but it’s also scientifically proven to make cereal soggier than milk does. And even if you don’t like cow’s milk, these days there are so many milk-variations out there finding a suitable milk option for your morning cereal isn’t hard to do.

As we’ve seen throughout this list, ketchup is quite a controversial condiment. People have some very strong opinions as to when it is, or isn’t, acceptable to use it. And the one that seems to split the population more down the middle than many others is ketchup and eggs. For some, the sweet and savory and the hint of acidity of the ketchup is a great accompaniment to eggs. While for others it’s over-powering, too sweet and cold ketchup on hot eggs all seems counterintuitive to an enjoyable bite. Also, as with many food preferences, it goes back to childhood. Kids who loved ketchup on their eggs and those who didn’t, generally grow up to stand on the same side of the argument.