Let me get this out in the open first. I know Mixed Nuts have always existed. I'm not a big fan of them. I'm a purist when it comes to nuts. I like how salty they are, and on occasion, how sweet they are. But never together. That would be like an abomination to me.
Shows you how small my food world is, doesn't it?
Anyway, this friend of mine DIY's mixed nuts for kicks. She experiments with contrasting flavors like it was ...natural. She's like Frankenstein and was more than thrilled to get Igor
(that would be me) to dash purity and join her in the troubled dark side. Theatrically-speaking.
She started me off with something she calls 'basic'. Salted pili nuts with Sweetened pili nuts. Ok... it took a while for my taste buds to get accustomed to the changing flavors per bite. But it was interesting --and I was in a rather devil-may-care attitude that day-- so I kinda liked it.
Then, she introduced me to Salted Peanuts with Wheat Nuts. The chaos of clashing textures was seriously off-putting. I had to acquire the feeling. After a few tentative chews, I finally got the hang of it and started enjoying it.
Pushing the envelope, her next salvo consisted of Roasted Nuts with ...Anchovy. Gasp! That felt so wrong on so many levels. Fish? Nuts? Have you gone completely mad???
Apparently not, because I loved the strange salty-sweet combination, too. And this combo, I just dove in and loved on the get-go.
Wow, I can get used to this mixing thing!
The moment I said that, she whipped out her oddest concoction yet --Cheese Chips with Choco Sticks. Geez, Lousie! I was just getting used to the Mixed NUTS idea! And why does this remind me so much of Miro's 'French Fries Dipped in Hot Fudge Sundae' recipe?!!
It was good, too, of course.
The key is to take in both flavors at the same time, let them play their opposing melodies, and give the cacophony a chance to blend together to form a beautiful song. It helps to be open-minded, too. Aside from my friend, that rat in Ratatoiulle --he makes a brilliant point.
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