10 Times People Realized Their Beloved Food Combos Were Weird

The environment we grow up in plays a significant role in forming our relationship with nutrition. Having frequent and regular family meals is associated with a myriad of benefits for children and adolescents, including decreased risk of obesity, lower chance of substance use, violent behavior, depression, and suicidal thoughts, as well as better communication skills and improved self-esteem.

Naturally, it also shapes our taste preferences, exposing our taste buds to certain flavors and textures. Interested in just how much variation there is, Reddit user Kerker1717 made a post on the platform, asking everyone to share the weird food combination that was standard in their household that later people said was not normal.

Continue scrolling to check out the answers they have received and don't miss the chat we had with foodies Sarah Tuck and Richa Gupta — you'll find it between the entries.

10 PHOTOS

#1

Whenever my mom used an egg wash and breadcrumbs there would be leftovers from the breading station. So she used to mix them, add a little water if there was too little of the egg left, and let the breadcrumbs hydrate. Then the mixture went into a skillet with heated olive oil to be fried like a breadcrumb pancake. There was no way she was going to throw out those breadcrumbs.

Every so often I find myself craving a breadcrumb pancake. I make one with a beaten egg to hydrate seasoned breadcrumbs. But I add Locatelli Romano cheese and julienned sun-dried tomatoes as well. Fried in olive oil with extra Locatelli cheese on top. So maybe not a weird food combination. But certainly a weird item to cook. Weird- but I love it!

#2

My little old great-grandmother used to wake me up at 3:00 a.m. every morning and give me an ego, cheese and ham sandwich and a gigantic like 40 oz mug of hot cocoa and tell me that I hadn't eaten anything all day and I had better eat.

She had mild dementia and I had moved in there with her to take care of her.

She was really sweet and my favorite human being on the planet until she died like a year or so later.

RIP Granny, I love you and I miss you

She could also cook better than anybody I've ever met. everything that came out of her kitchen was delicious.
I'm not sure how she made her lasagna taste like that I cannot replicate The taste she produced.

Also, her lentil chicken soup was delicious. And I'm hungry now thinking about my great-grandma that's weird

While it might be tempting to just say "yuck" when reading about these meals, don't be so quick to write them off. "Trying out new dishes is like travel—broadening our perspective and widening our way of thinking," Sarah Tuck, the woman behind the food and recipe blog Stuck in the Kitchen, told Pictolic.

"It's an adventure! And that's not to say the familiar isn't also amazing. I like nothing better than perfect softly scrambled eggs on toasted wholegrain bread—it tastes like coming home after a trip away," Tuck, who's also the editor of New Zealand's biggest food magazine Dish.co.nz, added.

#3

My ex made me scrambled eggs, and I had to immediately spit them out. There was CINNAMON in them.

I asked why the hell he had put cinnamon in my eggs, and he said he didn't. Only salt and pepper. Um, no, taste them - there is cinnamon on these eggs. So he takes a scoop and tells me I'm imagining things. They taste fine!

[They did not]

Turns out he was NOT gaslighting me. His mother had given him his salt and pepper shakers. We were at his mom's and I put some pepper on my meal and again, f*****g cinnamon.

"Oh yes!" His mother exclaimed, "He's a Taurus, and they have weak throats. Cinnamon is good for the throat, so to make sure he gets enough and stays healthy, I mix it into the pepper!"

He thought that was just what pepper tasted like.

#4

Our Thanksgiving leftover meal was turkey with gravy over waffles. Delicious. But when I got to high school/college people told me it sounded gross and weird.

It's also perfectly fine if these pictures inspire you to come up with something entirely new because "it's when you push the boundaries that you get the most interesting combinations," Richa Gupta, the cook, writer, and photographer running the blog My Food Story, explained to us.

Just remember to at least consider how things come together. To begin, Gupta suggests playing with complementary and contrasting flavors. The former allows ingredients to work in tandem (think peanut butter and bananas), while the latter pairs distinct taste profiles to create a dynamic sensory experience.

"While you're experimenting, always taste, taste, taste," Gupta added.

#5

Scrambled eggs/omelets with ketchup. I always thought this was normal but as an adult the more I eat with others the more they keep pointing out to me that's weird or gross???

#6

My mom used to put cut-up hot dogs in everything.

Cut up hot dogs in scrambled eggs, in box mac and cheese, in stir-fries with vegetables to eat on top of rice, in fried potatoes to make some kind of hot dog hash.

However, if you're an absolute novice, you might want to learn your way around the kitchen first. "I think as a beginner cook or baker it is best to follow conventions to start with," Sarah of Stuck in the Kitchen said. "Then, as skill levels increase, I would recommend experimenting."

"When thinking about developing a recipe, it is a little like writing music, thinking about all of the different elements coming together—in this case, I always start with the sweet/salty/bitter/umami balance, but also the texture; do I want an overall soft, smooth texture or would something benefit from a little crunch to contrast?"

#7

#8

When I was young and my Dad was a single parent, he'd try to have "fancy" dinners for my sister and me. His go-to appetizer for us was a slice of bologna, covered in peanut butter, then rolled up into a log. He'd then cut it into sections and each would have a toothpick in it. Voila! Appetizers.

Whenever I start missing my Dad, who passed away when I was 24, I make those appetizers.

"I like little contrasts to liven things up, like a fresh zingy lemon/garlic/parsley gremolata on a slow-cooked soft beef cheek ragu, or a sprinkling of crunchy nuts and seeds with dukkah and a little olive oil over burrata broken onto a salad," Sarah Tuck added.

"But the thing is, sweet and savory can also work brilliantly together, like sea salt and dark chocolate, or chili honey with cheese or chicken, so something that might sound weird when you first hear of it might make total sense when you take a bite!" the food writer said.

#9

Pork chops and homemade applesauce. So damn good but everyone I mention it to thinks it's repulsive

#10

Kraft Mac and Cheese with a can of tuna in it. I was thirty before I realized this was not common.

I think it came about because my dad comes from a poor Catholic family and it was a cheap way to feed five kids during Lent.

Edit: Guys I get it. Please stop replying "It's tuna casserole." It is not the same thing as what I ate growing up.

Tuna casserole is pasta and tuna, yes, but it is not a box of Kraft Mac and Cheese with a can of tuna dumped in at the end. Tuna casserole has some variety of peas, onion, cream of mushroom/chicken soup, and often has bread crumbs or chips on top. I have had tuna casserole, tuna salad, and tuna helper at various times of my youth. They are different.

Interestingly, in some scenarios, you might be more inclined to broaden your culinary horizons. For example, if you're actively dating!

Turns out, being reluctant to try new foods can be a turn-off, according to research published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences. The study provides evidence that the willingness to try new food can influence sexual desirability and is seen by others as a signal of sexual unrestrictedness.

As Richa Gupta said, "If food lovers didn't experiment with ingredients, and techniques, and challenge the boundaries, the culinary world would be at a standstill." And by the sound of it, we owe it to them for spicing up not only our meals but also our love lives!