These regional food pairings may sound strange and even controversial, but give them a taste before passing judgment.
Let’s face it, some of the most well-known food pairings probably sounded pretty odd when they were first introduced. Peanut butter and jelly? Grilled cheese and tomato soup? Bagels and lox? At some point, some food innovator brought together these flavors for the first time and thought to themselves, Hmm, that’s actually pretty good.
Like the most iconic foods from every state, each of the pairings below is tied to a different region of the country. Before you raise an eyebrow at these mashups, give them a try yourself. You might find that they’re a match made in culinary heaven!
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Bloody Mary + Beer Back
The beer back (aka the “side beer” or “pony”) accompaniment to a Bloody Mary cocktail is a Wisconsin favorite that borrows from the Michelada, a popular Mexican beer cocktail. The small glass of beer serves as a palate cleanser for the spicy, rich flavors of the tomato-forward Bloody Mary, and has become something of a tradition in the bars of the Upper Midwest.
As a bonus, if you’re in a New York state of mind, you can indulge in the beer back’s Brooklyn cousin: the pickle back. It’s a shot of whiskey followed immediately by a shot of pure pickle brine.
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Taste of Home
Chili + Cinnamon Rolls
The seemingly bizarre pairing of chili and cinnamon rolls is another Midwest invention, though its roots can be traced more specifically to Iowa and Nebraska.
Per the Des Moines Register, the sweet-and-spicy combination likely got its start in a school cafeteria in the 1960s, when cafeteria workers got creative in order to satisfy picky eaters while also making sure their nutritional needs were being met. The kids who ate the dish grew into adults and continued to crave it, and a strange new food tradition was born.
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Gumbo + Potato Salad
In Louisiana’s Cajun Bayou, it’s customary to serve gumbo with a side of creamy potato salad—and many locals mix the two together. The origins of this particular tradition are uncertain. Some have speculated that it has to do with the influence of the German immigrants who moved to the region in the 1800s, while others say it may have started due out of necessity during lean times as a way to stretch a pot of gumbo to feed as many people as possible.
Regardless, our visit to the region earlier this year confirmed that the tradition is alive and well, though some prefer to enjoy their gumbo and potato salad side by side instead of mixing them directly.
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Clams + Pizza
The combination of dairy and seafood is believed by some to be among the biggest culinary sins. Sometimes, however, it just works. That’s said to be the case with white clam pizza, the signature dish of New Haven, Connecticut.
A traditional New Haven-style clam pizza is topped with bacon, garlic, Parmesan and mozzarella cheese and, yes, canned clams. The creation of this unusual pizza dates to the 1960s, when it was first served at Frank Pepe’s Pizzeria (which is still around slinging clam pizzas to happy customers to this day).
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Cheddar Cheese + Apple Pie
For a dish that’s so tied up with tradition, apple pie is a dessert with a surprising number of centuries-old remixes. One of the more unusual ones is the cheddar cheese–topped apple pie, a tradition that is said to date back to 17th-century England.
According to Atlas Obscura, New England settlers brought the idea of cheese-topped pies across the ocean because it added a much-needed kick to apple pies that were otherwise a bit bland. The custom lives on today in New England, Pennsylvania and parts of the Midwest.
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