What do you eat that other people think is odd?

Shredded cheese crisped up in a skillet.

According to my ex, who politely asked me to stop doing that, it makes the entire house smell like particularly foul body odor.

Nah that's delicious. Ex made "keto nachos"- pork rinds and cheese in toaster oven, now that smells nasty
I know, for fact, that's delicious. Mmmmmmm.
https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cookbook:Chupaqueso

Sometimes I put a tiny bit of mustard on an Oreo to have a sweet and tangy snack.

My partner thinks it’s disgusting and my biggest red flag: I make peanut butter sandwiches on white bread and dip them in ranch dressing 😩 the reason I do this is because of growing up a millennial in NKY where a weekly lunch option was a bowl of chili, served with a peanut butter sandwich, and carrot sticks w a side of ranch….I hate raw carrots, always have lmao but I love all the other items….one day I was staring at the sad unused ranch and thinking as I was already keen to dipping the PB sandwich in the chili, that maybe it would be as good as the PB in chili so I tried it and I’ve just done it and liked a PB sandwich dipped in ranch ever since 😓 my partner has even tried it for me and hated it 🤷🏼‍♀️ at least they loved me enough to try it 🥹

You win
- Seriously.. I couldn't even finish reading that paragraph

Bean dip on pizza. It sounds super weird, and it is, but it's also delicious 🤤

This sounds like the bean base for a taco pizza. Not sure how wide spread it is, but where i am from in the Midwest it is pretty popular. Pizza Hut has a Taco Bean and a Taco Beef Pizza. Add cheddar cheese, pop it in the oven, after it's done baking, add lettuce, more cheddar cheese, tomatoes, chushed up Doritos, and some sour cream. So good.
Pizza with Hollandaise for me. Works until it starts to cool.
- That hadn't occurred to me, but dipping pizza crust (and pizza) in garlic butter sauce isn't unusual. Hollandaise is just a lemon butter sauce. Sounds good to me.
Maybe I'm also crazy, but that sounds kind of good....
I had leftover taco stuff and made a black bean and corn pizza. Beans pair well with it.
As a topping? I've done this and agree, but it's important to get the bean dip spread evenly on the crust.
- Yeah, just right on top of everything. Delivery pizza, spread a little bean dip on top.

My friend recommended eating kiwis with the skin on. It takes a second to get used to the fuzzy skin, but they are SOOOO much easier to eat! Plus you get some extra fiber ;)

I love the pop texture of with them skin on. And it is gives a nice bitter light note to the sweet fruit.

I some time thaw frozen dumplings in the fridge, and then eat them cold on hot days.

Like gyōza dumplings? Those are raw homie
Not gonna lie, that sounds awful. Slimy.

Raw garlic, just once in a while, as a little treat. Sometimes I’ll mash it up in some bread but most often… plain, raw garlic.

I have also not met a single thing I won’t try to pickle at least once, and for some reason people around me think that it is Terrifying hahaha. Personally, I find pickling to be a fantastic way to rescue produce that’s otherwise about to go off. Instead of making food waste, I’m making delicious snacks and toppings. Pickle everything!

Pickle everything! I've come up with some pretty interesting pickles, and also ferments. Worst outcome is food that was going to go bad is bad. Best outcome is delicious surprise!
- Ooh, experiments in fermentation are high on my list but I haven’t tried yet. Do you have any good tips for translating one’s pickling skills to fermentation? Or any fermentation tips in general - I’d love to know more about your process if you feel like sharing!
I'm assuming you've had pickled garlic, then? I just picked up 2 jars of it recently. I have to stop myself from eating too much sometimes. Raw garlic is great for me when I have a bad cold and need to clear out my sinuses.
- I have, and I'm with you - pickled garlic is so good. I also love that it's super easy to toss in a few (or more than a few) cloves of garlic alongside whatever else is going in the pickle jar, or to put them in some leftover brine after the original batch of pickles is finished.
  Since you mentioned liking raw garlic for your sinuses when you have a cold, have you ever tried saving the brine from your pickled garlic for similar purposes? If not, I'd highly recommend it. I've found that sipping or gargling pickle brine works wonders when I need some relief from a sore throat, and if the vinegar is strong enough I've found it helps my sinuses as well.

My favourite pizza topping is pepperoni and flaked tuna, the good stuff too so it's meaty oily tuna.

Love it but so many people think I'm odd for it. The meaty flavours compliment each other!!!

I'm not even sure I need to read the rest of the thread after this comment. You win by default! I guess it makes as much sense as anchovies on pizza though.

Pizza with hollandaise sauce base instead of tomato sauce. My father almost disowned me for it.

I've heard of white sauce base, garlic sauce base, hell even bbq sauce base, but hollandaise? The eggs benedict topping?? I'm about to disown you too
- eggs benedict
  Dude, I'm gonna be super controversial right now, just to tick you off...
  Doughy base with toppings and sauce? Remind you of anything? What if eggs benedict are just a type of pizza? Ever think about that?
you monster!
Have you ever tried French fries in hollandaise? I've had it once and it was the greatest fry topping I've ever had.
- Or bearnaise 🥹🤤

Cracker, sardine, tomato, cottage cheese, ground black pepper *chef’s kiss. The perfect snack.

A more general answer: Meals without meat.

For some reason this really confuses people, and often makes them concerned or upset.

- I'm not vegan nor vegetarian either, but if I ever became one I think I would be happy eating mushrooms, beans and peas as alternatives, for the rest of my life.

Brewed tea leaves, think they're the best part. There's a good number that are terrible (the cheap CTC blacks especially) but think most green teas and floral oolongs are great.

Weird to brew a cup of tea and then eat the leaves but there's also some legit recipes with tea leaves. Burmese tea leaf salad and longjing shrimp are two. There's also matcha.

Sauerkraut.

By itself, out of the jar, with a fork.

I can put down a can of Frank's in one sitting.

Nutella bacon crepes

That sounds good and it's hard to go wrong adding bacon to anything.

Baked onion with salt. Just a singular baked onion

...do you erm
bite into it like an apple?

My wife introduced me to Tuna mixed with Mac & Cheese, and now I totally enjoy it myself, other people have found it a little strange.

Have you added sweet peas to it as well? Thats how we eat it at my house and it's my favorite simple meal!
My dad used to make this! I forgot until your comment. I never liked it much myself, but it was okay.
I do this too. My Mac & Cheese usually always has broccoli and hot peppers or other veggies and whatever extra meat I have.... brisket, rotisserie chicken, salami, tuna, chilli, etc
I personally enjoy baked beans mixed with mac & cheese.
- That is not far off of chili-mac, which was a staple quick meal growing up
- Hmmm might need to try this.

I actually consume kiwis without peeling them, because I find it much more tasteful.

Also, mealworms. Fried ones. I bought them for my pet rats and ended up gorging on them sometimes.
I could feel all of the "hairs" in my mouth because of your comment. Thanks I hate it.
- Hey, it's a feature. You could also shave them!
The hair is initially tough to get over, but I also eat kiwis this way. There's a tanginess just under the skin that otherwise gets cut off.

Peanut butter + mayo + pickles on bread.

It's apparently a Depression era recipe, but I crave it once every two months or so

Are you continuously pregnant?
Weird, mine was banana, peanut butter, and mayo sandwich!

Toasted Cinnamon Raisin Bagel with Cheez whiz. Everyone in my family loves it. You will too. 😂

Toasted Cinnamon Raisin bagel with peanut butter, cheddar cheese, and bananas. - the cheese + bananas is what gets me looks.

People put mayo on cheese sandwiches and banana sandwiches, so why not?

In a similar vein, muffaletta as a bagel topping.

That sounds awesome, actually
Muffaletta is a whole ass sandwich. Do you mean tapenade?
- Your not wrong lol! But they sell the preserved veggie stuff that goes on the sandwich in grocery stores, and for some reason that's ALSO called Muffaletta? It's basically giardiniera but diced finer.

Ham sandamoni and cheesewich

Macaroni and cheese, plus shredded ham, plus mustard

It tastes incredible, but nobody else EVER wants to try it. Their loss!

If you want to go up a level in your additions, I would recommend you try haggis mac & cheese - it's the best!
- Oooo, thanks for the suggestion!
I toss some mustard into mac and cheese when I make it, so you might be on to something
I believe it. If Mac and cheese burgers work, this is just a variation of that!
Lightly toasted bread, right? I can see how that would be tasty (I already add a bit of mustard to my macaroni cheese) but I bet it would work even better with cut-up bacon in place of ham - you want something that's going to cut through all the creamy richness.

I enjoy ginger beer and will try to cut it into random other alcoholic beverages like red wine.

A friend once turned me on to peanut butter and tuna sandwiches.

I... do not know why I thought that was good at one point, now that I think about it.

Salt, fat, sugar, protein, your body craves that stuff.
That's revolting. This wins the thread, I think.

My wife would say: Kipper Snacks

Stinky fish is delicious.

I used to eat onion and mustard sandwiches years ago. They're not bad, actually.

I could see this slapping with cooked onions and Dijon on a nice crispy bread

Lobsters and crabs are essentially overgrown bugs that live in water. At one point they were only fed to prisoners.

On the way coast of Canada, going to school with lobster in your lunch bag was something to be ashamed of.

I love making steamed artichokes stuffed with pecorino cheese, garlic and bread crumbs. A recipe from my grandmother.

https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/baked_stuffed_artichokes/

Frozen corn.. Straight from the bag.

That actually sounds like a great snack on a hot summer day!
Did this all the time as a kid. … And as an adult, sort of. I have a recipe for a chilled corn and edamame salad with a soy sauce/sesame dressing. I make it with frozen veggies and sometimes if I’m feeling impatient I’ll eat it without fully thawing them.

I eat prunes daily. some people think it's a laxative for old people. sure, there's fiber in them and fiber helps you stay regular but just the same as eating most fruit. prunes are just dried plums and they're delicious

I eat prunes every morning myself. In my defense, I am one of those old people.
Prune juice is good too
- Mr Worf calls it "A warrior's drink"
Prunes are sorely under-appreciated in my opinion! I don’t eat them often, but my family has a tradition of making prune pierogi sautéed in an onion butter sauce for special occasions and it is an absolute sweet-savory delight. I look forward to them all year.
It's not only the fibre in prunes that helps your digestion -- the 'sorbitol' also acts as a laxative.
I do love prunes and figs
- my man

During a time where I would eat really utilitarian for lunch, this meal was my daily go to:

-half a can of skipjack tuna

-some amount of chopped cabbage

-steamer bag carrots and peas

-rice seasoning from the local Asian market (I don't know which one it's just labelled "rice seasoning")

-hot sauce

I try to not eat like a serial killer anymore

Pesto on a bagel sounds good as hck tho

I’m one of the teeming dozens who like circus peanuts and necco wafers. I may, however, be the only one under fifty years old to do so.

Peanut butter and jelly (aka jam) with white sandwich bread with a generous amount of Doritos or cheez-its in it. One of my favorite meals!

Toasted sandwich bread with tomato slices, salt, and mayo. I could die just thinking about them. Add corn on the cob as a side.

A slice of sandwich bread with mustard, American cheese, and onion. Stick in the broiler to melt thecl cheese and brown the bread, and serve. RIP grandma.

I've definitely heard of tomato sandwiches before, and I'd go as far as to say I'd love to try one with a perfectly ripe and juicy tomato. I think I've heard of the bread, cheese, and onion combo before? Either 1:1 or something similar? Ploughman's lunch sorta thing, I think.
But I've never heard of the PB&J with Cheez-Its before. I need to hear the scoop and what the appeal is. I think I could see myself doing it with a less sugary PB and a more savory or spicy jam 👀?
- Honestly I dont think cheez-its are super noticable flavor-wise, as with Doritos it's mostly about the crunch!
  I do hope you try a tomato sandwich, they are soo good!

Pickles and peanut butter

I do pickled chilies with peanut butter!
- We should be friends.
Can confirm, this is good. Also, a little peanut butter on a burger with pickles and cheddar is pretty rad.

Haven't eaten it since I was 16 or so, but I loved toast (white bread) with ketchup and nutella (yes, spread on the same side, not like one half ketchup and the other half nutella)

Edit because it came to my mind: My girlfriend finds it really weird that I like to spread mayonnaise on my meat-bread (like proper bread with salami or other sliced meat sitting on top of mayonnaise)

Grasshoppers, they're delicious with lemon.

All the ones I've bought in the West were dry and dank/powdery unlike the fresh and crunch of SEA street food crickets/hoppers.
What brands do you like?
- Ah, I have a weird international grocery near where I live that's unique and as a result i'd dox myself if I gave the information to you, and you likely wouldn't be able to obtain them, sorry!

When you've been terribly poor, you get creative.

I once got tired of packet ramen and put some free milk I pilfered from a hotel into the broth to make it more like a creamy sauce. Black pepper and peanut butter can also do wonders. It's not 5 star dining, but it was better than you'd think. Especially after the 8th day in a row eating Raman and stolen fruit.

Ive done it again on the rare occasion, even now that I don't have to. My partner goes green when she sees it.

There's nothing weird about those. Ramen may not lend itself to creamy sauces as Italian noodle dishes, but it's not like it would change the flavor immensely. As for peanut butter and pepper, spicy peanut sauces (e.g. satay) are pretty common in Asian cuisine. You're doing nothing unusual, just improving instant ramen.
- Finally, vindication after all these years.
As I've learned more, I do think it could be made really good for cheap. Make your Raman first, and remove your noodles. Make sure to use whole milk.
If you're using peanut butter, you've got your work cut out for you because it doesn't like to mix. I never tested this, bit I think you'd do well to add bit of extra starch (like corn starch, which is cheap) to better emulsify it. Mix the starch with cold water outside of your pot first to make a slurry.
This is a cheap meal built with not a small number of stolen parts. If you have the cash though, use sesame oil (go slow with it. It's expensive and it's easy to overdo it). I've noticed that the combined nuttiness of sesame oil and peanut butter is much stronger than the sum of its parts.
Eggs are pricey still I think? I used to get them at like $1 for those 32 packs though. Add an egg. If its as cheap as it used to be, they're just free calories and always good with Raman. Doesn't matter how you do it really, but if you're feeling lazy, just put it right in there while the Raman cooks. I'd go towards the end, or you get some ugly strands of egg white I don't love, and it doesn't mix well. Maybe try after the starch slurry?

Taco chips with peanut butter.

I like pineapple on pizza, but I think there's only one specific sort of pizza where it's actually good. You need a good barbeque sauce base, jalapenos, and some sort of meat (I prefer chicken and bacon). The usual ham, pineapple and tomato sauce version can get in the sea.

I like it as well, and for me does not need all the extras. Pineapple and pepperoni or salami is such a good combo

french fries dipped in mayo? 3/4 Coffee w/creamer 1/4 Diet Dr.Pepper mixed?

I love eating a raw potato like an apple, for whatever reason. Any time I'm cooking a dish with potatoes, I'll wash and peel one for me to eat. My boyfriend looked like I had grown a third arm the first time he saw me do it.

It's the perfect mix of crunchy and juicy, but not sweet.

Raw potatoes are like semi toxic. Do you not get any GI upset from doing that?
- No, never. AFAIK they aren't toxic, just that the starch is poorly digested. Either way, I've never gotten sick from it, so 🤷
  It's odd because I have had digestive issues off and on through the years, but the potatoes have never precipitated it. (It's mostly anything spicy, which sucks as I love spicy food-- it's a price I pay willingly sometimes)

My husband cringes every time I do it.

Potato chips with Ketchup. No shame, no regrets.

When I first saw someone do this, I was disgusted. Then I was like "how is this different from fries?" And I've been sold ever since.

Probably the most tame one in here, but I love to mix mayo with a little mustard to dip my french fries in. Baked potatoes with butter, sour cream, seasoning salt, and malt vinegar are also really good.

I basically eat all sandwiches on cinnamon raisin bagels if I can. Eggs, bacon/sausage, and cheese for breakfast? Yes. Pastrami and Swiss with mustard and sprouts? Yes. Tuna salad with Swiss? Yes. I get so many weird looks. But whatever. I like it. :)

peanut butter belongs in curry! even squid curry, I don't care what food wars says

Almond butter is also fantastic in curry. I regularly use it in lentil curries.

Make a bowl of chili, make a peanut butter sandwich, drop the peanut butter sandwich in the bowl of chill, eat it. I think this is a midwestern thing and everybody else thinks I'm nuts until they try it.

I didn't even know the liquorice + chocolate combo was a thing, and was very irked by it when my Icelandic wife introduced me to it (it's a huge candy trope in Iceland).

I've gotten used to it now, though, and I even enjoy some variants.

Boiling up pasta water, throwing in the pasta and pre-cooked meatballs, then letting it cook until the pasta is done.

This may sound weird, but I like eating sour cream with a spoon sometimes

I always eat the sour cream from off the spoon after I use it for tacos or pierogi.
- Oh, I meant I sometimes specifically buy an entire cup of sour cream just to eat it by itself

Bees

turns out you can eat citrus fruits peel and all

Especially cumquats

I loved cream cheese and grape jelly sandwiches when I was a kid! Nobody else was convinced that it’d be good, but it certainly works for me

You should try cream cheese with a spicy pepper jelly on crackers! So good.

Eating a lot of foods with Carolina Reaper or Ghost Pepper. I have carolina reaper infused sauce, salt shaker, chunky shaker, and whole pods and I would mix them with steak, pork chop, ramen, and so forth. I just like how it enhance the taste in different ways, not for everyone though.

Ghost pepper is one of the best tasting peppers.
- I know it doesn't have much kick, but I gotta say fresh chipolte is the best flavor for me.
- Highfive My man!

microwaved cookies (they're better warm)

Tahini as butter on a sandwich. It's delicious and goes with almost any sweet condiment!

If I find a good bell pepper, I will eat it whole like an apple.

When I get a beverage/food garnished with an herb like a sprig of mint or rosemary, I like to nibble on them. My friends and girlfriend sort of lost their minds when I took a bit out of a cinnamon stick from a cocktail.

fish heads... they're just so much cheaper than the rest of the fish and delicious in the air fryer. also i'll eat the tails on shrimp.

i’ll eat the tails on shrimp.
I thought I was the only one. I've never met anyone else who does this, and everyone thinks I'm a freak when they see me do it.
- it's crunchy, and it's so much more convenient than peeling it off every time...

One of my regular breakfast rotations is toast with creamcheese topped with either canned sardines or canned smoked oysters. Quick and tasty, but admittedly kinda weird.

Bagel with a pesto topping actually sounds quite nice.

I love a balogna sandwich.

Bread with butter and chocolate powder on top

When you mean chocolate powder do you mean straight cocoa powder or sweetened?

Bombay Bad Boy Pot Noodle for breakfast when staying in a hotel.

Also being English and not liking English breakfasts.

@ffmike@beehaw.org what kind of bagels are we talking here? Pesto on a toasted everything sounds amazing.

We make chips out of Plantago major with a little oil, salt, garlic, and pepper. I once got a stern talking to about eating the fruit from a 'Kousa' dogwood from the owner of the landscaping company I was working for. In my defense, they were shared with the owner of the tree, who had never sprayed any -cides there.

Most of the time plain Thomas brand from the supermarket. So barely bagels at all.

my fiancé eats this food called balut, it’s like a half grown chicken or something.. definitely odd

It’s a chicken embryo still in the egg. I already find eggs to be revolting (it’s a nearly-forty-year food aversion) but that pushes it beyond. I get that it might be considered a delicacy in SE Asia (the Philippines specifically, iirc), so I won’t yuck their yum and just say that it en’t for me.
- In the wise words of GradeAUnderA regarding Balut, "but apparently it's pretty tasty... yeah I think I'll pass"

I've been experimenting with hummus on stuff. My favorite do far was using it in place of salad dressing with some vinaigrette.

A dash of yogurt in instant noodles (specifically Indomie). Also, pesto on bagel is indeed reaaaally good. Especially if you add cream cheese, a fried egg, some spinach and make a kind of sandwich out if it.

Oh wow. 9th year my family’s church sponsored a first generation Eastern European-to-our-shakiest m smallish town, USA made Campbells chicken noodle soup for her daughter and me, added plain old Breakstone’s sc or something and I’ll still do it to this day when pressed.

The entire apple. Ketchup sandwich. Hummus & rice as a meal.

I always eat the whole apple, its getting to the point where i think anyone who doesn't is just being wasteful. Looking at peoples apples cores saying 'Are you not going to eat that?'
Hummus and rice actually sounds like a good easy meal. Do you mix them or just do separate? I'm vaguely horrified by your first 2 so not sure why I'm trusting you for advice I guess...
- :) I mix them

Creamy polenta with head cheese. Yes, the head cheese melts. And yes, it's delicious.

I will not-unhappily reheat and eat unrefrigerated two-day-old pizza. But I have the world's lowest standards for food.

Why bother with the reheat step? I'll happily eat refrigerated two-day-old pizza at fridge temperature.
- Ah, but they said unrefrigerated 2-day-old pizza. They apparently have an iron stomach.

Rice porridge with milk instead of water. It’s a thing where my parents are from but I’ve never heard of anyone else having it before. It goes great with nuts. I prefer bbq flavoured peanuts, but anything sweet and salty will work.

- Not quite, but that does sound delicious! What I’m referring to is probably more of a Chinese thing, as that’s my ethnic background.
Common enough in Sweden that you can buy it ready-made in grocery stores. We eat it with cinnamon and a bit of sugar.
- Ooh, that’s neat! Any chance you remember what it’s called?

I mix Coke and Orange Juice to wake up in the morning sometimes. My wife that dips steak in ranch dressing and friend that eats peanut butter and ham sandwiches hate it.

I used to do that back in the day (Coke & OJ), but both are so revoltingly sweet now I can’t do it anymore. If there was a cola-flavored sparkling water, I’d give that a shot.
OJ (or apple juice) with vanilla oatmilk is pretty amazing though. Just not in large quantities.
Jesus man what crazy town you come from!
I can see how Coke and OJ could work. Although, I like to mix Coke and eggnog during the holidays so maybe I'm not the most trustworthy source on this topic. Also espresso and root beer on ice is quite good.
I once watched a friend mix soda and milk together and then drink the entire thing like nothing was wrong. I was horrified.
Coke with orange juice/orange soda is a really popular drink in Germany called "Spezi".

Type of sushi called Uni (sea urchin)... more specific, it's gonads, although most people don't even know that piece of info. They just don't like the color, texture or taste.

To me it's more like a creamy raw oyster without the worry of biting a piece of shell.

I love the flavor of uni, but I cannot get over the texture.

chips + jam

specifically, kettle chips (plain salted or unsalted) with a nice strawberry or blackberry jam to dip them in...

where it really gets controversial is that I like to do this with the bonne maman jams 🙈

I could imagine the sweet and salty goes well together. I like when a charcuterie has a nice jam and brie. A cracker or piece of bread with brie, prosciutto, and jam, I could eat so many of those.
- exactly! sweet and salty plus CRUNCHY (the best texture). it's heavenly.
  also: hard yes to baguette with brie, prosciutto, and jam. i also love using an apple slice as the base for those toppings.

Shrimp tails, especially on fried shrimp; the crunchy texture is great. Not strange but something that I usually get looks or comments about.

I've gotten my family used to it enough that they will give me the leftover tails from their plates at a restaurant.

I’m with you! Always got strange looks from friends but I’m like “Hey, more protein!”

Cheez-its dipped in melted chocolate

My mom grew up poor and in the south, and one of her comfort "poverty foods" is a bologna and peanut butter sandwich. They're delicious.

Another one that's really good is Ritz crackers in milk.

Sometimes I'll add a slice of cheese to my bread slice with Nutella.

Having that said, a more normal one that some people find it odd is ham with jelly on my bread.

One of my favorite foods is piping hot macaroni and cheese topped with cold apple sauce. Everyone I know gives me bad looks, but I quite enjoy it.

My boyfriend's dad liked putting American cheese on top of apple pie for some reason and this sounds like someone heard of that and decided they wanted the apple on top of their cheese instead.
- I think cheddar on top of apple pie is a pretty common thing, but American cheese sounds off.
Oh man, if you like that, try fish sticks topped with macaroni and cheese and apple sauce. It's heaven. The flavours all go so well together. I normally have to eat my foods one dish at a time, but this is one of the weird mixtures that doesn't make me want to freak out.
- Ah, the Dropped TV Dinner, a classic meal

Greek yogurt and natural peanut for breakfast. Not really that odd in my opinion but the face of the people I tell that too say otherwise.

I just started doing this, it's sooo goood! The PB cuts the sourness of the greek yoghurt. It's like super creamy PB.

Marinated, grilled chicken hearts

Chicken heart yakitori is fantastic