From cronuts to Cheetos macaroons, food mashups have become all the rage around the world. From North America to Asia, innovative chefs have come up with different food mashups in an attempt to make perfect flavor unions. 

Here are 10 food mashups that will either make your mouth water or your stomach churn:

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Cheetos Macaroons

The owners of Macaron Parlour in New York City created this cheesy wonder just in time for the Halloween season. Christina Ha, the co-owner of Macaron Parlour, said she came up with the idea when she happened to have some Cheetos dust around Halloween time. To her astonishment, this strange combination was a hit with many of her customers. Though the Cheetos dust and Cheetos flavored ganache turned some of her customers off, many of them were intrigued by the uniqueness of the idea and by the macaroon’s vibrant orange color. 

 

 

 

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Chocolate Covered Bacon

Chocolate covered bacon is an oldie, but a goodie. Michelle Ibay, a woman who has tried Bacon Bacon food truck’s chocolate covered bacon said, “I wanted to try [it] because everyone keeps saying that everything tastes good with bacon. Chocolate is one of the last things I would put on bacon, so I just got curious.” She added, “It tasted just how it should: bacon covered in chocolate. It was like a mixture of sweet and meaty at the same time. Think of a bacon McGriddle.” 

 

 

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Chocolate Éclair Hot Dog

The traditional hot dog has been taken to a whole new level in Canada. This hot dog served in an éclair with whipped cream and sprinkles was created by Maple Lodge Farms and debuted at the Canada National Exhibition. While many people loved the idea, others couldn't even look at it. 

 

 

 

 

 

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Cronut

Chef Dominique Ansel created this mixture of a croissant and a doughnut for his pastry shop, Dominique Ansel Bakery. It debuted earlier this year and its popularity quickly spread around the world. Dominique Ansel Bakery only bakes about 300 cronuts a day and they sell at around $5 a piece. Though this food mashup has been selling since May, people still line up outside of Ansel’s bakery before it even opens to grab one of these sweet treats before they sell out. Ansel creates his cronuts by making croissant-like dough that is fried in grape-seed oil. He then fills it with cream, rolls it in sugar, and then glazes it with frosting. Some people who do wait in line for Ansel’s cronuts end up selling them to people waiting outside for more than double what they paid; One man was even willing to pay $100 for one cronut!

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Doughnut Burger 

The doughnut burger, otherwise known as the “Luther Burger,” was supposedly created at Mulligan’s, a suburban bar in Decatur, Ga., and is rumored to be named after the R&B legend Luther Vandross. Xavier Sendaydiego, a man who decided to make his own doughnut burger by putting two Krispy Kreme doughnuts and the insides of an In-N-Out burger together, said: “It was actually pretty good. You taste the doughnut mostly, so it’s like a really sweet burger.”

 

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Oreo Cookies

Okay, the name “Oreo cookies” is definitely misleading. I’m not talking about the Oreo cookies everyone knows about; I’m talking about Oreos baked into cookies! Oreo cookies have dimension, are very sweet, and come out of the oven goey because of the soft cookie batter but crunchy because of the crisp Oreo. So you get the best of both worlds!

 

 

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Ramen Burger/Ramen Pizza

Keizo Shimamoto, a ramen blogger and chef, created the ramen burger. It was debuted at Smorgasburg, an outdoor flea market in Brooklyn, N.Y. During the debut, only 150 ramen burgers were made and sold at $8 a piece. They take about four to five hours to make. 

Kenji Lopez-Alt created the ramen pizza, which is the same idea as the ramen burger. Basically, the ramen pizza is a normal pizza with then uses ramen as the crust. Nicholas Christian, a man who decided to try ramen pizza during his vacation in the Philippines, said, “I can not describe it. The closest thing is like a shrimp pizza, but with noodles.”

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Red Velvet Fried Chicken

San Francisco’s American Cupcake is now serving red velvet fried chicken. In order to make this sweet yet savory meal, American Cupcake first dunks their chicken in a red velvet batter and then layers it with toasted red velvet crumbs. After they are caked-up and fried, they are served. Claire Lim, a local San Franciscan who has tried American Cupcake’s red velvet fried chicken, said, “I'm strangely attracted to weird food and don't mind trying unconventional things. I love red velvet cupcakes, so when I heard that American Cupcake was making red velvet fried chicken with cream cheese mashed potatoes, I knew I had to try it.” She added, “ The skin was really good - crispy and sweet. The flavor didn't really seep into the meat of the chicken though, which was bland and chewy. The red velvet skin also left the meat underneath pink, which made it look a bit raw and unappetizing.” ____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Turducken

When people think of Thanksgiving, they often think of turkey. However, many families in the United States have come to replace their traditional turkeys with turducken! Though Chef Paul Prudhomme popularized turducken, no one knows who actually invented it. Turducken is a deboned chicken stuffed inside a deboned duck stuffed inside a deboned turkey. In between each of these layers, there is a layer of stuffing. Some people bake it; some people fry it. It’s all a matter of preference. Marley Gabrielsen eats turducken every Thanksgiving not only because it’s her husband’s family tradition, but also because it’s an alternative to turkey, which she doesn’t really like. She said, “The meat is moist, tender and very flavorful, no more dry meat. Also the stuffing is excellent with sausage and no bones to deal with. There's turkey, chicken, and duck to choose from. I'm not a huge duck fan, but for some reason it tastes less gamy in the turducken.”

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Waffle Taco

Earlier this year, Taco Bell released the Waffle Taco. This breakfast meal was tested in five Calif. locations, and did not seem to be well received by many of its consumers. Some people said it was greasy and messy, making it hard to eat; many others said it was just okay. Some people, however, said that a homemade waffle taco could actually be pretty good. 

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People are always trying to make things better, and their reaction to food is no different. Traditional is no longer enough; people need and want new things, new tastes and that’s where food mashups come to play. 

Food mashups have begun to pop up all around the globe at an enormous rate. Whether you love them or hate them, it looks like they’re here to stay; at least for awhile. 

 

Reach Staff Reporter Janelle Cabuco here.