Foods/ingredients that DO NOT go well together

[MSRadell]

I may be alone here, but cheese and barbecue. It ain't right, be it brisket, pulled pork, or chicken. There's a very well known barbecue joint in KC that sells a lot of sandwiches with brisket, cheese, and an onion ring. It ain't right, I tell you. Other than this abomination, the place is great.

Cheese on barbecue just has to be illegal! It just sounds nasty.

[Lisa Shock]

I may be alone here, but cheese and barbecue. It ain't right, be it brisket, pulled pork, or chicken. There's a very well known barbecue joint in KC that sells a lot of sandwiches with brisket, cheese, and an onion ring. It ain't right, I tell you. Other than this abomination, the place is great.

+ one on this

at least for me

I think you both are arguing this combo from a standpoint that barbecue is hallowed ground and Thou Shalt Not Adulterate It. I get it; I see the point. But I guarantee you could take a bite of, say, the Texas Cheese Steak made by the local BBQ Joint in my town and ... um ... not gag. Whether you think brisket "should" or "shouldn't" be topped with gooey cheese as judged by the Sacred Keepers of BBQ is one thing; whether the two flavors -- delicious on their own -- combine into a wretched taste (which is the subject of this thread) is another.

I feel the same way about barbecue and cheese. It's not so much that it's sacred hallowed ground, it's the sauce. The rich sweet thick sauce, with a rich sharp or creamy gooey bite of cheese. The flavor combo doesn't make me gag as much as it makes my palate say "AGH TOO MUCH" There's just way too much going on, there. I dislike the barbecue flavor and cheese, because they're both quite enough on their own, and this goes from slow smoked brisket and good cheese, all the way to the ubiquitous barbecue sauce, bacon, fried onion, cheddar burger. It's like...umami overload.

I'm a vegetarian, so I am not going to comment on barbecued meats. But, I do eat cheeses, and I can't stand the combination of barbecue sauce and cheese. It's on the menu of burger places like Islands (where you can get a veggie patty on any burger) and I simply won't eat it. I like many barbecue sauces, and often dip fries into them in addition to pouring them on veggie burgers. But, cheese somehow conflicts with the flavor of the sauce. And the sauce kills some of the cheese's complexity. So, I might have a mushroom & swiss burger, or one with barbecue sauce, but never one with barbecue sauce & cheddar.

[scubadoo97]

Liquor and coffee. I realize I am probably in the minority here, but mixing them strips away what I like about each of them. If I want whiskey, I don't want it toned down by coffee. And vice versa.

I have to agree with you. I love them both but not together.

[kayb]

I may be alone here, but cheese and barbecue. It ain't right, be it brisket, pulled pork, or chicken. There's a very well known barbecue joint in KC that sells a lot of sandwiches with brisket, cheese, and an onion ring. It ain't right, I tell you. Other than this abomination, the place is great.

I'm with you. The baseball park in Memphis serves barbecue nachos. I'm pretty sure that's a mortal sin.

[Kim Shook]

While I would never put cheese on REAL BBQ (smoked sans heavy sauce), I actually like it on the glopped up BBQ nachos that I've had. And I love cheeseburgers with onion rings and BBQ sauce.