You know the classics, now it’s time to broaden your horizons.

There are certain food combinations that go together better than Chuck and Blair. They just work, despite initial shock, trauma or turmoil, we hop on that bandwagon and we learn to love them like the rest of the world. They’re traditional.

We love a banana and peanut butter combo. We adore an avocado and eggs combo. A simple ham and cheese goes down a treat. I bet the first person to come up with the salted caramel combo got snorted and sneered at, people shouting to their friends, ‘who’s this idiot, ae?!’….and just look where we are now. If there’s an option to have something flavoured with salted caramel, it’s a no-brainer.

Instagram is laden with these combinations, so much so that Sunday brunch is beginning to look incredibly mundane. If I never see a poached egg on mashed avocado on toast again, I certainly would not complain….i.e every time someone steps foot inside the doors of the beloved Papercup.

However, we all have that friend who pushes the boundaries of food combinations a bit too far by dipping their McDonalds fries in their McFlurry. Now, I laugh at this on the surface, but in all seriousness this is DISGUSTING. Stop this immediately. This is a taboo. And not a fun and exciting and intriguing one. A horrifying one that simply must be left alone.

Now, what this leads us to do is to explore what other food combinations may appear to be somewhat vile, but in fact, may be the new Snickers on toast (peanut butter and Nutella on toast, if you’ve never had it you’re cheating yourself) (unless you have a nut allergy, then you’re probably doing yourself a favour). Give them a chance.

 AVOCADO AND CHOCOLATE. As aforementioned, avocado is a staple to a white girl’s Sunday brunch, or ‘post-workout’ breakfast. We love it with eggs, we love it with bacon. What else should we love it with? CHOCOLATE. Dark chocolate especially. I discovered this while making a ‘chocolate mousse’ with avocado (attempts at a summer bod while still satisfying the sweet tooth) and it was delicious. I actually saw someone on Instagram drizzling melted dark chocolate over chopped avocado and was thoroughly intrigued. Who knew. Get on it.

MANGO AND ‘REAL FOOD’. We enjoy mango as a healthy snack. We enjoy it in a fruit salad. We enjoy it in a smoothie. What else should we enjoy it with? REAL FOOD. Pop it into a salad for a sweet little kick to contrast all the crunchy veggies. Throw it into a stir fry with some teriyaki sauce and you will not be disappointed. Such a treat on the tastebuds.

PEANUT BUTTER AND BACON. As a vegetarian, I’m having to take my brother’s word on this one. We are well aware that bacon and maple syrup on a stack of homemade pancakes it completely dreamy. But swap the maple syrup for some peanut butter, and apparently you’re laughing. Not the obvious choice, I must say. Having not had bacon for 7 months, and it being the only meat that I miss, I feel like this was the hardest taboo to get on board with. WHY ruin bacon with anything other than a roll and ketchup. However, my job here is to bring you the taboos, not to love them, so carrying on….

CHEESE AND JAM. Our hearts race at the thought of a brie and cranberry toastie. That’s just a fancy cheese and jam toastie though really, isn’t it? Why not try using a simple mature cheddar and a raspberry jam. Throw it in the George Foreman to melt that cheese and warm that jam and, voila, you have a new favourite snack. I promise you will not be disappointed.

CHEESE AND CHOCOLATE. Chocolate cheesecake – dreams. Chocolate fondue – dreams. Cheese fondue – dreams. Together? Odd…ly delightful. I’m talking literally just sitting with a plate of chunks of cheese and a plate of chocolates and literally eating them together. It tastes so good!! Brie is delicious with chocolate with fruit bits in it, like the M&S dark chocolate with raspberry. Cheddar is yummy with a nutty hazelnut chocolate. TRY IT.

TOMATO KETCHUP AND ICE CREAM. Now I’m ending here on a faux pas made by my (at the time) 7 year old, ketchup-obsessed brother. We were out for a lovely dinner with the family, and when it came to dessert, Ali ordered a simple vanilla ice cream. Safe. Classic. That was, until it arrived and we turned to see that he had covered the ice cream with ketchup. That’s right, kids, ketchup. I’m all about adventuring with foods. But this, such as the case with McDonalds fries and McFlurries, must never happen again.

Now kids, we all enjoy a bit of foodie excitement in our lives, but know your limits. Ketchup is for a bacon roll, and McDonalds fries are for Ketchup. Leave the ice cream out of it.