1609: Food Combinations

2015-11-27T18:30:46Z

Martica:

{{comic
| number = 1609
| date = November 27, 2015
| title = Food Combinations
| image = food_combinations.png
| titletext = If anyone tries this on you, the best reply is a deadpan "Oh yeah, that's a common potato chip flavor in Canada."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Needs fact checking and some expansion. - Please change this comment when editing this page.}}

[https://www.google.com/search?q=unusual+food+combinations Unusual food combinations] are often counter-intuitive and can vary wildly by individual taste. Real-world examples of unusual food pairings, such as [http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/24/dining/making-a-meal-out-of-peanut-butter-and-pickles.html pickles and peanut butter], french fries in chocolate shake, or even the comfort-food pairing of {{w|chicken and waffles}}, pair sweet, sour, or salty foods with a food or condiment from a different group. In many "normal" food pairings, though, the cross-over between sweet, savory and salty foods also exists, such as ketchup, a very sweet condiment being regularly applied to hamburgers and french fries, both savory and salty foods.

In this comic, Randall lists twelve somewhat random food items and suggests dropping any pair into conversation as an "actually good" food combination will never be challenged by those in the conversation, because they have likely heard, or tried other unexpected combinations that are highly recommneded or liked.

The title text extends the joke by recommending countering such a bizzare proposal with an assertion that the random pairing announced are an actual potato chip flavor popular in Canada. This plays on the fact that in different countries and regions, cultural tastes can vary wildly. For instance, [http://www.buzzfeed.com/tanyachen/americans-taste-canadian-ketchup-all-dressed-chips ketchup flavored potato chips] are quite popular in Canada, but are almost never offered in US markets.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Traditional pairings found in the list of combinations
!
! Ice Cream
! Ham
! Relish
! Pancakes
! Ketchup
! Cheese
! Eggs
! Cupcakes
! Sour Cream
! Hot Chocolate
! Avocado
|-
| Skittles
| ✓
|
|
|
|
|
|
| ✓
|
|
|
|-
| Avocado
|
| ✓
|
|
|
| ✓
| ✓
|
| ✓
|
|-
| Hot Chocolate
| ✓
|
|
|
|
|
|
| ✓
|
|-
| Sour Cream
|
|
|
|
|
|
| ✓
|
|-
| Cupcakes
| ✓
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
| Eggs
|
| ✓
| ✓
| ✓
| ✓
| ✓
|-
| Cheese
|
| ✓
| ✓
|
|
|-
| Ketchup
|
| ✓
| ✓
|
|-
| Pancakes
|
| ✓
|
|-
| Relish
|
|
|-
| Ham
|
|}
==Transcript==
:[Megan is talking with Ponytail and Cueball, who has his hand to his chin. Above them in 4x3 black boxes different kind of food is written in white text].

:Ice cream Ham Relish
:Pancakes Ketchup Cheese
:Eggs Cupcakes Sour cream
:Hot chocolate Avocado Skittles

:Megan: You know what's actually really good?
:Megan: ____ and ____.
:<font color="white">Megan:</font> food <font color="white">and</font> food

:Cueball: Huh. I Guess I can see it.

:[Caption below the panel.]
:Fun fact: if you say "you know what's
:actually really good?" in the right
:tone of voice, you can name any
:two individually-good foods here
:and no one will challenge you one it.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Fun fact]]

explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1609: Food Combinations