By Sabrina Seldon
February 7, 2025
Pizza and ranch. Ice cream and fries. Cream cheese and hot Cheetos. These food combinations sound strange but science shows they actually make sense! Odd food pairings have captured imaginations for generations, combining sweet, savory, spicy and creamy flavors in ways that shouldn’t work but somehow do. Food pairing science explains why certain flavors, textures and aromas complement each other.
Human taste buds detect five primary flavors: sweet, salty, sour, bitter and savory. Tastes can be sensed by all parts of the tongue, and when two foods have overlapping flavor, people’s brains often interpret the combination as satisfying. Strikingly different flavors can create an exciting balance. For example, pizza and ranch work well together because the creamy, tangy dressing complements the savory cheese and tomato flavors, hitting both contrast and balance.
Similarly the combination of ice cream and fries creates a contrast of cold and sweet with warm and salty that excites people’s taste buds and releases dopamine, the “pleasure” chemical. There is also a contrast in the texture with the crunchiness of fries against the creaminess of ice cream, enhancing the sensory experience.
Foods containing tyrosine and magnesium, such as protein rich foods, dairy, nuts, seeds, fruits and vegetables, have the building blocks of dopamine. Meanwhile processed foods exploit natural chemical reactions leading the human brain to get addicted to flavors. Researchers argue addiction is triggered by hijacking reward pathways in the brain, as alcohol and cigarettes do. According to Dr. Ashley Gearhardt, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, the food industry has gotten good at creating products that trigger human bliss points and keep them coming back. Unlike fruits and vegetables, these addictive foods stray away from making people feel full.
Ultra-processed hot Cheetos pairs well with cream cheese by blending the rich texture of cream cheese with the spicy crunch of the snack. This match made in heaven involves balancing capsaicin, the compound in chili that gives it heat, with cooling high-fat content cream cheese.
Some of the favorite food combinations of Michigan State University students include chocolate-covered potato chips, crab cakes with ketchup, eggs with ketchup, etc.
These unexpected combinations play on contrasts, leading the human brain to interpret the variety as a reward, developing memorable flavor impressions, as unconventional pairing adds to the human taste bud experience.
Sabrina Seldon is a senior majoring in journalism with minors in broadcast, graphic design and public relations. On campus, she is involved with VIM Magazine, Her Campus at MSU and interns at WKAR Public Media. In her free time, she enjoys trying weird food combinations and is a big fan of pizza and ranch.