Hot take: Canned tuna and cottage cheese is a real meal

I was at my aunt's house in Toledo last month and she served this for lunch. I thought she was messing with me. But I tried it and now I eat it like three times a week. It's cold, salty, and creamy all at once. Anyone else have a weird combo that actually works?

3 comments

3 Comments

dakota_nelson431mo ago

That line about "cold, salty, and creamy" is exactly right. My dad used to eat peanut butter and pickle sandwiches when I was a kid. I thought it was the most disgusting thing I'd ever seen. He'd put crunchy peanut butter on wheat bread and then layer dill pickle slices on top. One day I was hungry enough to try it and honestly the salty pickles and the sweet peanut butter just work somehow. I still eat them sometimes when I'm alone and nobody can judge me. It's like your brain doesn't know what to do with the flavors at first but then it just clicks.

linda5001mo ago

Well I'll be, I used to be firmly in the "that's wrong" camp until my wife made me try one last year. She's been eating them since she was a kid and I finally caved. @dakota_nelson43 you're right that the brain doesn't know what to do with it at first. I still can't do the crunchy peanut butter version, but smooth with a good kosher dill is actually pretty solid. I stick to rye bread though, gives it a little more backbone.

morgan_ramirez1mo ago

Read something the other day from a food scientist who said the whole trick is that pickles and peanut butter have this weird chemical overlap that makes your taste buds basically fight each other until they give up and just enjoy it. Reminded me of that whole umami thing people talk about with miso or parmesan, except way more chaotic. Can't say I've tried it myself, but my uncle swore by peanut butter and pickle sandwiches during his fishing trips, said the salt helped him stay hydrated or something. Kind of makes you wonder how many other weird combos are out there just waiting for someone brave enough to try them, right?