Combining Foods : The Frontal Cortex

Profile

Jonah Lehrer is a contributing editor at Wired. He's also written for The New Yorker, Seed, Nature, the Boston Globe and is a contributor to Radio Lab. He's the author of Proust Was A Neuroscientist. His new book is How We Decide.

My Books

Search

Combining Foods

Category: My So-Called Life
Posted on: March 16, 2007 10:09 AM, by Jonah Lehrer

Apparently, Wilfrid Sellars came up with this "philosophical time-waster":

Identify three foods A, B, and C such that any two of these are complementary (taste good in combination) but the trio does not. So A and B must be complementary, B and C must be complementary, and A and C must be complementary, but A, B, and C must be foul when combined together.

I'm stumped. Tyler Cohen proposes Merlot, Coke and Chicken, but the idea of mixing Merlot and Coke seems pretty foul to me. Other options include sharp cheddar cheese, quince jelly and peanut butter, but I'm not too excited about eating a cheddar cheese and peanut butter sandwich.

Any solutions for the Sellars cooking conundrum? After giving this problem way too much thought, the best trio I could come up with is dark chocolate, peanut butter and orange marmalade. The marmalade combines nicely with the chocolate, works suitably well with the peanut butter, but I can't imagine all three ingredients tasting good when combined together. (That said, I'd still probably eat a grilled peanut-butter, marmalade and dark chocolate sandwich, if in the proper state of mind.)

What's your best trio?

Share on: Facebook Twitter Stumbleupon Reddit Email + More

Trackbacks

Trackback URL for this entry: http://scienceblogs.com/mt/pings/35776

Comments (8)

Prosciutto, Melon & Red Wine.

Prosciutto + Melon: typical appetizer
Prosciutto + glass of red wine: mmmm...mmmm...good
Melon + Wine: Sangria! (well, almost)

Prosciutto + Melon + Wine: lousy excuse for a nouveau-trendy cocktail.

Posted by: Christopher | March 16, 2007 12:14 PM

Vodka, pepper, cocconut milk

Beef, cream, orange

Posted by: MattXIV | March 16, 2007 1:55 PM

Shrimp, BBQ sauce, beef

Apples, curry, noodles

The best strategy I think is to pick two base foods that can be combined in a dish then pick an ingredient that is used with both of them but for a different effects in other dishes.

Posted by: MattXIV | March 16, 2007 3:11 PM

Of course, no matter what combination you choose, chances are that it is a staple part of some regional Chinese or SE Asian cuisine. And they probably make it taste good, too.

Posted by: MJ Memphis | March 16, 2007 4:30 PM

I think beef, cream and orange might win, especially if one has to use the whole orange, and not just the zest.

Posted by: Jonah | March 16, 2007 4:44 PM

>the best trio I could come up with is dark chocolate, peanut butter and orange marmalade.

Are you kidding? That sounds heavenly!

...mmmm....craves...

Posted by: outlier | March 16, 2007 6:40 PM

Eggs, Potatoes and Jalapenos.

Eggs and hash browns/home fries/breakfast burrito, yum.

Eggs and jalapenos, tasty Tex-Mex breakfast.

Potatoes (be they skins or mashed or in waffle fries) with jalapenos, delicious.

All three?