Across the world and throughout history, people have been putting new twists on old favourites. When it comes to food, this can be risky! Some are wonderful, some surprising, and some are downright weird. From chocolate fries to hot dog popsicles, these are the most surprising takes on food. You've got to try everything once!
Donuts come in all shapes, sizes and flavours. These beauties do look particularly appetising, but they've got a surprise twist. Have you ever thought to use goat's cheese as a donut filling? Joan of Arc Cheeses did, and they paired the whipped goat's cheese with a blackberry and thyme jam. Pairing creamy, savoury cheese with a sweet jam is not a completely novel idea, so we can see how this could be a winning combination. We've never thought to pair the two and put it inside a donut, though! Whilst this recipe isn't available on their website any longer, they have a whole host of other unusual cheesy dessert recipes- would you try any of them?!
Lester's Fixins are known for their... unusual flavours- there's Buffalo Wing, Ranch Dressing, Dirt and Grass flavoured sodas, amongst others. This Bacon Soda, however, seemed promising to bacon lovers all over. It was unfortunately met with dismal reviews from customers, with one person stating that it tasted of "pig. Pure, unrelenting pig." Other reviews were more generous, arguing that this is simply a gag gift or a prank for the bacon lover in your life, but that didn't stop another reviewer stating that it would either "make you puke or wish that you were never born." We won't be rushing to get our hands on this one any time soon.
The BeanBoozled range – now in its 6th edition – deviously matches popular colors and flavors with less desirable ones. Made by jelly bean giant Jelly Belly, this isn't your usual sweet treat. Think you’ve picked Juicy Pear? That may be Booger. Love the Chocolate Pudding? Brace yourself for Canned Dog flavor. Other terrifying varieties include Rotten Egg, Dead Fish and Barf. This is an especially terrifying take on Russian Roulette; it'll take some courage!
These M&Ms are birthday cake flavoured, and apparently taste like chocolate and cake frosting, which isn't exactly an unusual combination- in fact, it sounds quite nice. M&M have a plethora of flavours and editions, including crispy, caramel and chocolate fudge. Introduced in 2014, the Birthday Cake M&Ms are available in the US, but can be found for sale online in other countries with a little digging around. They've been generally well-received, with some reviewers even saying that they're "the best type of m&m"! Giving this one a go is a no-brainer.
This limited edition corsage was made to wear on the wrist to Prom, just in case you or your date got peckish. We're not really sure where this idea would have come from on KFC's product development team; it's not exactly an intuitive pairing. This was available for prom season all the way back in 2014. Maybe fried chicken wristlets were all the rage for high school students back then?
Known as the McChoco, these chocolate French fries were available in early 2016 at McDonald's locations across Japan. Sweet and savoury combinations are becoming hugely popular (think salted caramel), but customers weren't so sure about this one. The dish consisted of classic McDonald's fries accompanied by two chocolate sauces; a white chocolate and a classic chocolate fudge sauce. Everyone loves fries and everyone loves chocolate, so although it sounds unusual, maybe this one is a winner!
None of us are stranger to a cheap and cheerful bottle of Echo Falls (their Summer Fruits flavour is a particular fan favourite!), but how do you feel about Cocoa & Orange wine? In 2015, Tesco supermarkets in the UK were selling bottles of this Cocoa & Orange wine, the quirky brainchild of Californian brand Echo Falls and part of its Fruit Fusion range. Not technically 'wine' (the bottle states it's, in fact, an 'alcoholic mixed fruit drink'), the cocoa was apparently "barely detectable". Perhaps this was a bit of a gimmick product rather than a winning combination, but it certainly sounds intriguing.
As you may know ice cream is often made with eggs – usually from chickens and sometimes ducks. But in the Philippines crocodile eggs are proving successful. Sweet Spot Artisan Ice Cream in Davo City came up with the idea of using unwanted or unhatched eggs from a local crocodile park, in part because of their high nutritious content. This is a little more exotic than anything we're likely to find in the UK, but being able to tell your friends you ate crocodile ice cream on your last holiday definitely sounds pretty hardcore.
Choose tortilla chips made from crickets and you’re eating a nutritious, sustainable snack. Chirps (pictured) is just one brand adapting insects to suit our tastes. It might sound a bit offputting, but apparently, the future of food is insects. The UN have even urged us all to consider adding crunchy anthropods to our diets. Insects have high nutritional and protein content, as well as being incredibly easy and cheap to farm, which means adding them to our weekly shop could do a great deal of good in reducing our consumption of other meat products (which are alleged to have a hugely detrimental impact on the environment) and aiding food insecurity. For all the good it could do, would you consider adding insects to your weeknight meals?
Oddka specialises in unusual and 'odd' flavoured vodka; it's in the name, after all. The brand has made a name for itself in the vodka world with some clever marketing and crazy essences – we’re talking Fresh Cut Grass, Salty Caramel Popcorn, Wasabi, and Electricity, which is said to tingle on the tongue. Fresh Cut Grass actually sounds quite refreshing, and grass flavoured vodka isn't a totally new concept; in fact, Bison Grass Vodka started in The Baltics, and has since expanded and gained popularity in the UK and the US. Oddka's version has some solid reviews as well, especially in mixed drinks.
KitKat Japan love to experiment with flavours that might seem unsual or unappetising to those of us in the Global West. One invention that's proved very popular in Japan is the Matcha Green Tea variety, which is green (as promised) and actually tastes of tea. Whilst this is a Japanese flavour, many companies are exporting and selling these online. Apparently, there are more than 300 different unique KitKat flavours in Japan!
What do pizza companies do when they’ve run out of topping ideas? They work on the crust, as this carb-tastic, gorgeous pizza with hash browns, from Pizza Hut New Zealand, shows. Everyone loves a hash brown; they're the crown jewel of the Full English breakfast, but with a pizza?! You'd have to try it and see. This was released back in 2016, and although calorific, was met with positive reviews.
Launched in 2013, in McDonald’s stores in Hong Kong, these black and white buns were definitely eye catching, even if the color didn't add anything to the taste. The black buns contained beef patties and were colored with flavorless squid ink, while the white buns encompassed a chicken patty and were covered in black sesame seeds. Both had the dubious addition of mashed potato.
In 2006, Tom and Athena Seefurth from Illinois invented Pizza Beer. It’s made from mashing cooked margarita pizzas which are then “steeped like a tea bag” before being filtered, boiled then fermented with hops and spices. If you can't get enough of pizza, it's the beer for you. It’s sold around the US or online.
Anyone who’s experienced the underrated delights of a potato chip sandwich will love the Nacho Whopper – a Mexican-themed Whopper with tortilla chips, jalapenos and a special Mexican sauce that was offered to Burger King customers in the Netherlands in 2010. It’s also popped up in stores in Poland and Norway. Adding a bit of crunch to a burger sounds like a great addition, we reckon this one should make a comeback!
Now take a look at the other fast food creations we can't wait to try
Oreos are big in Asia, where flavours are arguably more adventurous. In Indonesia and Thailand there are Orange Ice Cream and Blueberry Ice Cream varieties, and Green Tea Ice Cream cookies in China. In the US, though, limited edition Swedish Fish Oreos, which don’t contain fish but a filling that tastes like a popular Nordic candy, were available back in 2016- just one of a number of Oreo's forays into limited edition flavours. Now, there are still a plethora of different flavours available, some of which are more adventurous than others!
Like Japan, China enjoys some whacky flavor combos, one of the most bizarre being Lay’s Pepsi & Chicken flavour potato chips. It sounds gross until you learn that a common entrée in China is chicken cooked in Pepsi. The 2010 launch proved one of Frito-Lay’s most successful in the Asian country. Sweet and savoury combinations are hugely popular, so this one actually makes sense.
In 2013 Quebec-based convenience store Couche-Tard gave Canada the gift of Pizzaghetti – a slushie station of two halves, which dispensed pizza-flavored and spaghetti-flavored slushies to a curious public. But wait- they don't actually taste like spaghetti or pizza. In fact, the yellow 'spaghetti' flavour actually tastes like kiwi whilst the 'pizza' flavour tastes of strawberry. Whilst a 'Pizzaghetti' slushy doesn't sound that appetising, we're a little disappointed that they didn't fully commit to the act!
Those familiar with Pocky’s, the common biscuit-and-chocolate-stick snack from Asia, may have doubts about this particular variety, which are found in Japan. There’s nothing unusual about the flavor, which is why it's fairly perplexing that they're specifically marketed towards men. They're 'dark bitter chocolate' flavour, which as far as we know, women can eat too!
Denver-based craft brewery Wynkoop sells a range of artisan beers, ales, lagers, IPAs and stouts, one of which is Rocky Mountain Oyster Stout. Available on limited release, what started as a practical joke has proved surprisingly popular. Drinkers clearly aren’t put off by the ingredients: roasted barley, seven specialty grains, “steerian” golding hops, and roasted bull testicles.
Thought to be around 3,000 years old snake wine was – and is still regarded as – a medicine in China. Made by infusing whole – usually venomous – snakes in alcohol (usually rice wine) or by using snake bile, it’s claimed to help all sorts of ailments from hair loss to impotence. It’s also found in other Asian countries such as Vietnam and Korea.
When it comes to food Japan is a fearless country. Take the Gari-Gari Kun brand of popsicles, for example. Alongside typical flavors such as pineapple and orange it’s been known to do a Corn Potage (soup) variety and more recently a Spaghetti version, which consists of Neapolitan ice cream infused with tomato sauce ice and studded with tomato Jell-O bits.
Back to Japan, the spiritual home of unusual flavour combinations, for more eye-opening options from the food developers at Nestlé. There’s the Bakeable Sweet Potato KitKats, which can be eaten cold or heated up in the oven. Then there are other savory versions such as Grilled Corn and Baked Potato With Butter, both of which deserve an honorary mention.
Savory ice cream is a regular item in Japanese supermarkets and ice cream parlors. Häagen-Dazs got in on the act, selling tomato and carrot varieties. But those shrink in shame compared to other flavors: Octopus, Eel, Chicken Wing, Horse Meat, Shark Fin, Soy Sauce, Snake, Japanese Pickle, Cow Tongue and Shrimp – to name a few. They must be popular for a reason, so maybe they're worth a try.
Now take a look at the world's most outrageous ice cream flavours
Even Willy Wonka would have raised an eyebrow to these gumballs from the sweet brand Accoutrements. The three flavors take the chewer on a journey through dinner, from buttered corn, to roast beef, to apple cobbler, which sounds like the least offensive of them all. Whilst roast beef and buttered corn are delicious in their own right, we're not sure of any added value by turning them into gumball flavours. The reviews, however, are surprisingly positive, with one customer saying her only complaint is that the flavour doesn't last long enough!
These cheeseburger-flavoured Doritos were a UK-only limited edition that can currently be bought online. They were launched back in 2016, though, so we can't guarantee their freshness! The Ultimate Cheeseburger Doritos were released as part of a campaign where the public had to decide which flavour would remain part of their permanent offerings- the other flavour released was a spicy salsa crisp. Doritos told us that they had "the juicy taste of a perfectly grilled burger covered in slowly melting cheese (and) just the right amount of pickle for a classic American Cheeseburger taste, with the satisfying crunch of a Dorito."
Turkey has Yoghurt & Mint flavour, France has Olive, and China has Rock Taco. But Japan has Wasabi & Soy. Oh, and Cheese & Almond. And Coconut Curry. And Tacos. And Yuzu… In fact, maybe Japanese crisp-lovers look at our flavours with disgust?! These Wasabi & Soy flavoured Doritos are a fiery treat, with added umami from the soy. You'd eat it with your sushi, so why not on your crisps?
Once you pop you can’t stop, right? That may be so if it’s tried and tested flavors, but you may feel less inclined if someone offers you a White Chocolate Peppermint Pringle. When these were released back in 2012, it was said that they tasted of "toothpaste on a chip". It's not a particularly glowing review, and it's not one that makes us particularly anxious for the limited edition snack to make a big comeback. And what's more, you’ll probably be just as confused by the Pigs In Blankets and Lemon and Sesame varieties.
Have you ever found yourself choosing between chocolate and sushi? No, we haven't either, but Kit Kat sushi is more a trick than an actual fish-chocolate combo. You could pick up a faux-tuna, egg or sea urchin sushi roll. The Kit Kat store in Ginza, Japan made 'tuna' from raspberry and white chocolate over puffed rice; 'egg' from a pumpkin-flavored Kit Kat; 'sea urchin' is whipped up with melon and mascarpone cheese wrapped in actual seaweed.
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A brand typically associated with making hot dog sausages, Oscar Mayer released a new collaboration with gelato brand PopBar. Oscar Mayer will be serving up their so-called 'Cold Dogs' this summer, featuring a hot dog flavoured popsicle made of gelato and complete with a drizzle of 'mustard'. Whilst the mustard is actually just coloured white chocolate, the gelato itself is, in fact, hot dog flavoured. This doesn't sound super appealing, but apparently the "gelato is extremely creamy and has a strong smokey flavor that balances out the popsicle's delicate sweetness" says Delish, with an overwhelmingly positive review. The Cold Dog can be purchased from PopBar locations across the US.