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Combo not so bad given all the other possibilities

Living Matters

The son and I were discussing food. Specifically, dinner and breakfast pairings. More specifically, chicken and waffles.

“It’s on all the restaurant menus,” the son said.

“I know,” I said. “I see it everywhere.”

“It’s supposed to be amazing,” the son said.

“I’ve heard that,” I said.

“Would you try it?” asked the son.

“No,” I said. “Would you?”

“No,” he said. “I think it sounds disgusting.”

Chicken and waffles, it seems to me, is fairly new in the menu department. But indeed, the pairing is truly out there — and gaining plenty of mealtime traction.

No idea how this curious coupling came to be, unless, of course, it was by virtue of some kind of accident. (Restaurant employee was plating food, somehow dropped fried chicken on waffles and syrup, took a bite and yelled for someone to immediately get the head chef’s attention?)

I reminded the son that for eons, some folks have been flip-flopping on the breakfast-dinner thing by, oh, having steak for brekkie and pancakes for supper. But merging them seems to be a bit of a new culinary phenomenon.

“Would you eat roast beef and scrambled eggs?” asked the son.

“Not a chance,” I said. “I like my roast beef with gravy and horseradish. Forget the eggs. I mean, I don’t even like eggs, remember?”

“Right,” said the son. “Forgot.”

He considered the other possibilities.

“Pork chops and Rice Krispies?” he asked.

“Yuk,” I said. “I wouldn’t eat pork chops with Cheerios, Frosted Flakes or Raisin Bran either. I want them only with apple sauce and mashed potatoes.”

“Me too,” said the son. “And I wouldn’t want Rice Krispies with anything but milk.”

“Ditto,” I said. “Hey, I said, would you eat poutine and porridge?”

The son paused, allowing his taste buds to do the thinking.

“I don’t like poutine, period,” he said. “And I don’t really like porridge either. So that combo’s a no-brainer.”

We would, we resolved, keep breakfast as breakfast and dinner as dinner. But after considering the other options, we decided that waffles and chicken sounds good.