As of late, I have had more free time available, and with that free time, I’ve been devoting myself to the art of cooking. From an extremely young age I was always amazed by watching my grandmother, who has dedicated a lot of her life to the mastery of her cooking. Over the years, she has taught me everything I know and sparked a lot of personal growth within myself and what I am capable of in the kitchen. 

Food is now one of my greatest pleasures and, despite being skinny, I love to eat. Nowadays, I have been trying various new recipes and finding some hidden treats within the culinary world. From that, I have come up with a small list of three very unique food combinations that definitely are worth your own time, and tasting. You will not regret it!

Starting off, my first tasty food combination is ice cream and fries. From my own experience, I feel a traditional vanilla ice cream is the best flavor to accompany the French fries as it is sweet and milky. This concoction carefully combines the sweet flavor of the ice cream and the thin salty flavor from the fast food fries. I usually get my fries from McDonalds, as I view those as superior to all fast food establishments. They are the perfect mix of potato and salt. This is an interesting one, as you would be consuming fries which are traditionally eaten warm, and ice cream which is almost always freezing cold, so that adds much intrigue that warrants you to try this flavorful duo. The combination of flavors tastes like potatoes and milk with a hint of vanilla, but I promise the flavor is fulfilling. I remember when I first discovered it only a few months ago and the surprise that came from my experience with the pairing was unexpected but very pleasant. After surveying six fellow students from Arcadia High School (AHS), none had tried this flavorful duo but five said they would definitely give it a try in the future. 

Secondly, I love Coca-Cola and chicken. It tastes like you are drinking a coke and eating chicken at the exact same time. In fact, this is actually served as a dish in various places such as Hong Kong, where the people just can’t get enough of this amazing pairing. It was just a couple weeks ago that I heard of the famous recipe known as Cola chicken which has become more popular recently. This is yet another salty-sweet combination. This one will knock it out of the park with its delectable after-taste. The two flavors blend ever so naturally and truly accommodate one another perfectly. When surveying many students at AHS. students expressed their interest in trying Cola chicken. 

Senior Darren Lee said, “I’d be interested to try it, if it’s free.” He didn’t know this combination of food existed but was intrigued for future tasting. 

Lastly, this is a combination that I’m sure many of you have actually tried: pizza and ranch dressing. To some, this might be a disgusting combo especially if you’re using cold, refrigerated ranch, which I definitely don’t recommend. However, using savory and creamy room temperature ranch will pair effortlessly with the pizza. My favorite pizza restaurant is California Pizza Kitchen, and whenever I go, I get a side of ranch with my pepperoni and cheese pizza. I have noticed many fellow minded patrons that also put ranch on their pizzas. Frankly, a lot of people actually explore these flavors while eating school lunches with both items available in AHS’s school’s cafeteria. From my experience, this tastes really good as it perfectly combines the tangy ranch flavor with the soft tomato puree of pizza.

There you have it, my three favorite unique food combinations. If I had to pick my favorite, it would probably be the cola chicken, as the blend is absolutely perfect, and you need to try it. Please do take it upon yourselves to follow my recommendations, and have yourself a great feast!

Photo by Harini Devaguptapu