The Art of Pairing Unconventional Flavors: A Journey with Shrimp Paste and Cottage Cheese

As I sat down to taste the shrimp paste, I couldn't help but feel a sense of trepidation. It was going to be a wild ride, one that would challenge my senses and push the boundaries of what I thought was possible. And yet, as soon as that first bite hit my tongue, I knew that I was in for a treat. The initial burst of umami flavor from the shrimp paste was tempered by the creaminess of the cottage cheese, creating a rich and savory taste experience that left me wanting more.

As we delved deeper into the world of flavors, our conversation turned to the concept of pairing unexpected ingredients together. We talked about how sometimes, taking something familiar and adding an unusual twist can create something truly magical. The shrimp paste, for example, is often used in Southeast Asian cuisine as a condiment, but I had never tried it before. And yet, once I took that first bite, I was hooked.

One of the key things that struck me about the shrimp paste was its complexity. At first glance, it seemed like a simple condiment - just a paste made from fermented shrimp. But as I chewed and swallowed, I began to pick up on layers of flavor that I had never experienced before. There were notes of salt and fish sauce, but also hints of sweetness and acidity. It was like a symphony of flavors playing out on my tongue.

As we moved on to the next pairing, our conversation turned to the importance of balance in cooking. We talked about how sometimes, a dish needs to have a bit of contrast - sweet against savory, hot against cold. And that's exactly what happened with the avocado and sweetened condensed milk. The creamy texture of the avocado was perfectly balanced by the sweetness of the condensed milk, creating a rich and indulgent treat that I couldn't get enough of.

But what really stood out to me about this pairing was the cultural context in which it was created. In my hometown, sweetened condensed milk is a common ingredient used in traditional desserts. But in other parts of the world, it's often used as a condiment or a topping for savory dishes. It's a testament to the versatility and adaptability of food, and how different cultures can take the same ingredients and create something entirely new.

As we continued on our culinary journey, I found myself getting more and more excited about the possibilities that lay before us. We tried pairing the cottage cheese with gochugaru - a spicy Korean chili flake - and watching as the sweetness of the cheese was transformed into a savory and slightly spicy treat. And then we moved on to avocado toast, using sweetened condensed milk as a topping to add an extra layer of creaminess and sweetness.

Throughout it all, our conversation remained light and playful, with each of us riffing off the other's ideas and suggestions. It was like we were having a jazz session, each of us contributing our own unique rhythm and style to the mix. And at the end of the day, I couldn't help but feel grateful for this experience - for the opportunity to explore new flavors and push the boundaries of what I thought was possible.

The Art of Pairing Unconventional Flavors: A Toast with Cottage Cheese and Sesame Seeds

As we sat down to enjoy our toast, I felt a sense of excitement building in my chest. The cottage cheese and gochugaru combination had been a revelation, but now it was time to try something new. We added some toasted sesame seeds to the mix, and watched as they transformed into a crunchy and nutty topping that added depth and texture to our toast.

It was at this moment that I realized just how powerful pairing can be. By combining two seemingly disparate ingredients - creamy cottage cheese and spicy gochugaru - we had created something truly unique and delicious. And yet, it's the addition of the toasted sesame seeds that really took it to the next level. The nutty flavor they added was like a punch of energy, waking up my taste buds and leaving me wanting more.

As I looked over at Chris, I couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration for his culinary skills. He had taken something as simple as cottage cheese and turned it into a work of art, pairing it with the perfect amount of gochugaru to create a dish that was both savory and sweet. And now, as we sat enjoying our toast together, I knew that this was just the beginning - that there were countless other combinations waiting to be discovered.

The Art of Pairing Unconventional Flavors: A Toast with Avocado and Sweetened Condensed Milk

As we moved on to the final pairing, I felt a sense of trepidation. Would our humble avocado toast be enough to top the incredible flavors we had already experienced? But as soon as that first bite hit my tongue, I knew that this was something special.

The creaminess of the avocado was perfectly balanced by the sweetness of the sweetened condensed milk, creating a rich and indulgent treat that left me speechless. It was like a party in my mouth, with each flavor playing its own unique role in the celebration.

But what really stood out to me about this pairing was the cultural context in which it was created. In my hometown, sweetened condensed milk is a common ingredient used in traditional desserts. But in other parts of the world, it's often used as a condiment or a topping for savory dishes. It's a testament to the versatility and adaptability of food, and how different cultures can take the same ingredients and create something entirely new.

As I looked over at Chris, I couldn't help but feel grateful for this experience - for the opportunity to explore new flavors and push the boundaries of what I thought was possible. And as we sat enjoying our toast together, I knew that this was just the beginning - that there were countless other combinations waiting to be discovered.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enit's a fruit with a fermented product i think that's not common and especially in america but from my understanding it's basically just ground up shrimp oh that's fragrant bud yeah it smells like straight yeah i think you got enough today we've each picked an unexpected food pairing some foods that don't necessarily go together you don't like it i hate it but we think they're delicious is that right yes when it comes to weird pairings i personally don't know until someone tells me that's weird it's a combination of things that something in your mind goes oh no that doesn't belong okay or does it or does it but maybe it doesn't just like us you know he's short i'm tall what's weird to one person may not be weird to somebody else you know i i hope you uh hope you agree with me harold we have to taste it yes that's the name of the game it's something i've done before and i think it's just in subtleties it's quite nice uh drum roll please strawberries and show you which is i gotta show you yeah i thought it was balsamic oh i'll show you yeah i mean so show you or you know or soy sauce it's salty it's it's rich it's got a nice depth of umami it's a very fermented aged you know koji based life force uh condiment you know everywhere i feel like most people know it for you know sushi or something like that but as far as flavor and sodium it's a great way to apply that to any type of food and these strawberries are just regular ones are they like harry's berries and stuff like that yeah you know i don't know how are you calling me out like that i didn't buy these ones you know but uh you know we're gonna go ahead and say these were hand-picked in a field in new jersey you know it was great these are the best strawberries in the world harold so here we're making a little dipper you get one i get one i like a personal dipping reservoir and it reminds me of also in the philippines you know we dip a lot of summer fruits and stuff and soy sauce and vinegar so i think this is going to work sure sure go first i'd love to know your honest thoughts i mean that's good it's it's good right the sweetness of the berry and the tartness the sugar can give you that salt that you're looking for that's what i'm saying mm-hmm that's really nice it's a little summertime snack maybe just a little pinch of sugar in this or something mm-hmm or even honey i'd be nice we're just a better strawberry i'm sorry harry it's not harry's barry's bud you know what i'm saying one epit budget man harry's berries i'm actually having like massive amounts of like um second guessing me too that's why i asked like do you have this this is too weird you're gonna be like no actually you're a freak camera my fear is that honestly it's not freaky enough for you oh really yeah it's like yeah that works of course okay well we'll see all right let's go okay here we go here we go i'm like okay just on it all right here it is here it is oh that is scallion cream cheese with a cinnamon raisin bagel okay yes i am a freak oh my gosh you you are a wild wild human being okay so like onion can go sweet onion is sweet right you can have like cinnamon and onion you can have cinnamon and like and and dairy right cinnamon and like a fall broth heady right yeah right yeah that flavor can skew kind of sweet and savory totally i don't know um i do know i think it's gonna be really good okay i think there's something about this i mean there's something about the cinnamon the raisin and the scallion you know that is unexpected you know like scallion doesn't really go sweet even if you like roasted like it still won't get really sweet not super sweet not like a chocolate onion yeah yeah we're going right yeah who would get upset about this no there's something about like how the way this the sweetness i love the cinnamon raisin kind of balances out a little bit of that like that brash kind of scallion flavor i do not have a problem with this would you ever put like a piece of smoked fish on top of this or is that going too far the fish might be where i i get lost on the journey yeah i don't know i don't know that like this is one that i want extra toppings on yeah as a combination on its own for its own merits i think it works i'm loving it okay clearly wow it's not the reaction i was expecting nailed it i think samantha's is going to think that i'm a kid and it's going to be like very annoying and she's going to be mad that she had to eat it really i could eat like 12 bowls of these what could it be that i wouldn't that i'd be mad it's let's see let's see i love cheetos with honey i've never had them with honey exactly that's a good idea this was my after-school snack every day cheese and honey is done yeah i think that's done yeah yeah like on a cheese plate you have cheese and honey you have like preserves yeah what kind of cheese is that is it cheese let's do it please chef but you gotta do the whole drizzle thing right oh shoot oh we have to serve it oh yeah you're really elevating this all right it looks pretty dig in that's incredible yeah that's good it's great i didn't doubt you for one second though i doubted me the cheetos are super salty and the honey is nice and sweet and sticky okay if you serve this to me at your restaurant i would be very happy yeah if i serve this to you at my restaurant please call 9-1-1 i'll write a really bad yelp review so brad are you ready to uh taste my uh weird pairing yeah i can't wait to see what you're doing here oh really it's nasty i don't like it you don't like it no i hate it yeah but it's a weird-ass pairing all right you gonna open it all right boom oh i picked fermented shrimp and mango it's a fruit with a fermented product i think that's not common and especially in america but from my understanding is basically just ground up shrimp this is vinegar garlic onion salt and sugar and then and msg it's salty i'm assuming there's a decent amount of salt and a lot of salt yeah this is if you're in the villages this is what you eat like you said it's something a flavor profile i mean hey i grew up in new jerseys no mangoes and no one's really fermenting shrimp paste so like having it be such a embedded part of your culture man like that's what for me that's what unexpected parents are all sure all right so go ahead we're gonna cut the mango real quick these are perfect mangoes you see how they're like kind of have the greenness still on that's what you want and that texture is gonna be a little more firm a little more sour exactly it's going to be a little more crispy oh that's fragrant yeah yeah it smells like straight yeah i think you got enough there you go buddy like that yeah yeah come on that's pretty good there's some beer it's a lot at first if you when you first when that paste first hits the tongue and that's all you're getting especially like gets into your sinuses you know you kind of smell that that that flavor the faster i chewed it up and all the flavors kind of mixed together it became this like new flavor and it mashes up and you get it's sweet still but it's sour you see how it's cream you're craving it right yeah we're not even drinking beer yet so you're in a humid you're in a humid hot climate sure and you eat this just imagine you know when you're chilling and hanging out with your friends you know i was a little worried when he started banging out the shrimp paste but i tell you what i'm gonna find myself like not with harold and like at my house and like kind of craving this summertime mail man it's a nice little snack b it's so funky too and weird are you ready yeah i don't know that went so well i mean maybe we're just really meshing i think we're we're riffing we're yeah this looks like jazz we're going back and forth okay all right let's go okay here we go one two three cottage cheese and gochugaru so for me like this was like breakfast it's unexpected we're putting it on this thing that we just talked about also having it be more of a sweet application and yet gochugaru is itself like there's a hint of sweetness in there there we go super taster palette no i mean you know it just it is like it's not like fruity in your face like really hot so there's like a mellow sweetness to this too yeah okay chris i would love to build you a toast do it this is some beautiful seeded sesame bread from she-wolf bakery here we're gonna put some cottage cheese some olive oil salt sprinkle it with some gochugaru and toasted sesame seeds i mean come on this is like a 12 toast in some place in l.a oh at least i wouldn't think twice about that so savory mm-hmm you could have like five times more like cottage cheese you could have more of like everything yeah i'm going for it and it's like going to go everywhere now thank you i'm amazing how like you can see that much chili pepper but against the backdrop of this much fat soaking the bread the level of my yard reactions have been like applied to this bread it's like so toasty so deep but you get the chili right in the back as you're like chewing and chewing i'm very into this i would not bat an eyelash at this this is completely delicious everybody should love this everybody should try this this is not like weird at all you know in fact the weird thing to me is taking cottage cheese if anything and making it sweet you know most of the time it's a crunchy toast are you ready to see my pairing ready avocado and sweetened condensed milk that is straight out of where i'm from in the island well i think in the u.s i feel like people make a lot of avocado toast yeah and guacamole which are both really really great but i don't think um people naturally go towards sweet avocado it depends on who you ask avocado is super fatty and sort of savory and then condensed milk is super duper duper duper sweet super sweet i've had avocados in like smoothies and i've had condensed milk but i haven't had them together together it's a big day yeah so i'm just gonna cut my avocado with this teeny little knife oh that's a good one when i was little i would mash it so i'm gonna mash it for you i think some people do it in chunks i don't know trust your body my body's telling me to mash and then i'm gonna put some of this in there and then i just because i'm going to make it look cuter than just a pile of mush oh that looks great yeah for you all of me oh wow is it good it's really good i don't know how to describe it it's like it's that good oh it tastes like like you're eating a lotion i don't know cool i don't know but it's like that i'll take it that creaminess it's just the same texture all the way through it's velvety this is sophisticated now you're just blowing smoke no it's not blowing smoke even though i like to smoke things i'm going to have a stomach ache but i keep eating it because i like it i'm eating it i like that green face on that man you like that yeah i like a green face watch it's rolex we're at a gold boysit's a fruit with a fermented product i think that's not common and especially in america but from my understanding it's basically just ground up shrimp oh that's fragrant bud yeah it smells like straight yeah i think you got enough today we've each picked an unexpected food pairing some foods that don't necessarily go together you don't like it i hate it but we think they're delicious is that right yes when it comes to weird pairings i personally don't know until someone tells me that's weird it's a combination of things that something in your mind goes oh no that doesn't belong okay or does it or does it but maybe it doesn't just like us you know he's short i'm tall what's weird to one person may not be weird to somebody else you know i i hope you uh hope you agree with me harold we have to taste it yes that's the name of the game it's something i've done before and i think it's just in subtleties it's quite nice uh drum roll please strawberries and show you which is i gotta show you yeah i thought it was balsamic oh i'll show you yeah i mean so show you or you know or soy sauce it's salty it's it's rich it's got a nice depth of umami it's a very fermented aged you know koji based life force uh condiment you know everywhere i feel like most people know it for you know sushi or something like that but as far as flavor and sodium it's a great way to apply that to any type of food and these strawberries are just regular ones are they like harry's berries and stuff like that yeah you know i don't know how are you calling me out like that i didn't buy these ones you know but uh you know we're gonna go ahead and say these were hand-picked in a field in new jersey you know it was great these are the best strawberries in the world harold so here we're making a little dipper you get one i get one i like a personal dipping reservoir and it reminds me of also in the philippines you know we dip a lot of summer fruits and stuff and soy sauce and vinegar so i think this is going to work sure sure go first i'd love to know your honest thoughts i mean that's good it's it's good right the sweetness of the berry and the tartness the sugar can give you that salt that you're looking for that's what i'm saying mm-hmm that's really nice it's a little summertime snack maybe just a little pinch of sugar in this or something mm-hmm or even honey i'd be nice we're just a better strawberry i'm sorry harry it's not harry's barry's bud you know what i'm saying one epit budget man harry's berries i'm actually having like massive amounts of like um second guessing me too that's why i asked like do you have this this is too weird you're gonna be like no actually you're a freak camera my fear is that honestly it's not freaky enough for you oh really yeah it's like yeah that works of course okay well we'll see all right let's go okay here we go here we go i'm like okay just on it all right here it is here it is oh that is scallion cream cheese with a cinnamon raisin bagel okay yes i am a freak oh my gosh you you are a wild wild human being okay so like onion can go sweet onion is sweet right you can have like cinnamon and onion you can have cinnamon and like and and dairy right cinnamon and like a fall broth heady right yeah right yeah that flavor can skew kind of sweet and savory totally i don't know um i do know i think it's gonna be really good okay i think there's something about this i mean there's something about the cinnamon the raisin and the scallion you know that is unexpected you know like scallion doesn't really go sweet even if you like roasted like it still won't get really sweet not super sweet not like a chocolate onion yeah yeah we're going right yeah who would get upset about this no there's something about like how the way this the sweetness i love the cinnamon raisin kind of balances out a little bit of that like that brash kind of scallion flavor i do not have a problem with this would you ever put like a piece of smoked fish on top of this or is that going too far the fish might be where i i get lost on the journey yeah i don't know i don't know that like this is one that i want extra toppings on yeah as a combination on its own for its own merits i think it works i'm loving it okay clearly wow it's not the reaction i was expecting nailed it i think samantha's is going to think that i'm a kid and it's going to be like very annoying and she's going to be mad that she had to eat it really i could eat like 12 bowls of these what could it be that i wouldn't that i'd be mad it's let's see let's see i love cheetos with honey i've never had them with honey exactly that's a good idea this was my after-school snack every day cheese and honey is done yeah i think that's done yeah yeah like on a cheese plate you have cheese and honey you have like preserves yeah what kind of cheese is that is it cheese let's do it please chef but you gotta do the whole drizzle thing right oh shoot oh we have to serve it oh yeah you're really elevating this all right it looks pretty dig in that's incredible yeah that's good it's great i didn't doubt you for one second though i doubted me the cheetos are super salty and the honey is nice and sweet and sticky okay if you serve this to me at your restaurant i would be very happy yeah if i serve this to you at my restaurant please call 9-1-1 i'll write a really bad yelp review so brad are you ready to uh taste my uh weird pairing yeah i can't wait to see what you're doing here oh really it's nasty i don't like it you don't like it no i hate it yeah but it's a weird-ass pairing all right you gonna open it all right boom oh i picked fermented shrimp and mango it's a fruit with a fermented product i think that's not common and especially in america but from my understanding is basically just ground up shrimp this is vinegar garlic onion salt and sugar and then and msg it's salty i'm assuming there's a decent amount of salt and a lot of salt yeah this is if you're in the villages this is what you eat like you said it's something a flavor profile i mean hey i grew up in new jerseys no mangoes and no one's really fermenting shrimp paste so like having it be such a embedded part of your culture man like that's what for me that's what unexpected parents are all sure all right so go ahead we're gonna cut the mango real quick these are perfect mangoes you see how they're like kind of have the greenness still on that's what you want and that texture is gonna be a little more firm a little more sour exactly it's going to be a little more crispy oh that's fragrant yeah yeah it smells like straight yeah i think you got enough there you go buddy like that yeah yeah come on that's pretty good there's some beer it's a lot at first if you when you first when that paste first hits the tongue and that's all you're getting especially like gets into your sinuses you know you kind of smell that that that flavor the faster i chewed it up and all the flavors kind of mixed together it became this like new flavor and it mashes up and you get it's sweet still but it's sour you see how it's cream you're craving it right yeah we're not even drinking beer yet so you're in a humid you're in a humid hot climate sure and you eat this just imagine you know when you're chilling and hanging out with your friends you know i was a little worried when he started banging out the shrimp paste but i tell you what i'm gonna find myself like not with harold and like at my house and like kind of craving this summertime mail man it's a nice little snack b it's so funky too and weird are you ready yeah i don't know that went so well i mean maybe we're just really meshing i think we're we're riffing we're yeah this looks like jazz we're going back and forth okay all right let's go okay here we go one two three cottage cheese and gochugaru so for me like this was like breakfast it's unexpected we're putting it on this thing that we just talked about also having it be more of a sweet application and yet gochugaru is itself like there's a hint of sweetness in there there we go super taster palette no i mean you know it just it is like it's not like fruity in your face like really hot so there's like a mellow sweetness to this too yeah okay chris i would love to build you a toast do it this is some beautiful seeded sesame bread from she-wolf bakery here we're gonna put some cottage cheese some olive oil salt sprinkle it with some gochugaru and toasted sesame seeds i mean come on this is like a 12 toast in some place in l.a oh at least i wouldn't think twice about that so savory mm-hmm you could have like five times more like cottage cheese you could have more of like everything yeah i'm going for it and it's like going to go everywhere now thank you i'm amazing how like you can see that much chili pepper but against the backdrop of this much fat soaking the bread the level of my yard reactions have been like applied to this bread it's like so toasty so deep but you get the chili right in the back as you're like chewing and chewing i'm very into this i would not bat an eyelash at this this is completely delicious everybody should love this everybody should try this this is not like weird at all you know in fact the weird thing to me is taking cottage cheese if anything and making it sweet you know most of the time it's a crunchy toast are you ready to see my pairing ready avocado and sweetened condensed milk that is straight out of where i'm from in the island well i think in the u.s i feel like people make a lot of avocado toast yeah and guacamole which are both really really great but i don't think um people naturally go towards sweet avocado it depends on who you ask avocado is super fatty and sort of savory and then condensed milk is super duper duper duper sweet super sweet i've had avocados in like smoothies and i've had condensed milk but i haven't had them together together it's a big day yeah so i'm just gonna cut my avocado with this teeny little knife oh that's a good one when i was little i would mash it so i'm gonna mash it for you i think some people do it in chunks i don't know trust your body my body's telling me to mash and then i'm gonna put some of this in there and then i just because i'm going to make it look cuter than just a pile of mush oh that looks great yeah for you all of me oh wow is it good it's really good i don't know how to describe it it's like it's that good oh it tastes like like you're eating a lotion i don't know cool i don't know but it's like that i'll take it that creaminess it's just the same texture all the way through it's velvety this is sophisticated now you're just blowing smoke no it's not blowing smoke even though i like to smoke things i'm going to have a stomach ache but i keep eating it because i like it i'm eating it i like that green face on that man you like that yeah i like a green face watch it's rolex we're at a gold boys\n"