Food + Food = ??

I had my first taste of chicken and waffles over the weekend. Good stuff, that. It’s one of those combinations I probably never would’ve made on my own, though I do recall coming up with some interesting “what’s in the cupboard” combos as a hungry, broke college student.

Wiki says chicken and waffles has Southern slave roots, but I can’t help wondering if some stoners with middle-of-the-night munchies decided the combination of dinner and breakfast (dinkfast?) was the best idea ever. And, for once, they were right.

My coworkers and I were talking about chicken and waffles and other interesting food combos – and here’s what we came up with. You guys ever had any of these?

• Shrimp and grits – I was under the impression this was a Southern thing, but I hear it’s actually a Lowcountry staple. A coworker says his mom made shrimp and grits all the time when he was a kid. My mom never made grits, period, but I’ve had shrimp and grits in recent years and like it. I guess that’s a good thing, considering I’m about to be smack dab in the middle of the Lowcountry.
  
• Fried catfish and spaghetti – A friend introduced me to this combination a couple of years ago. Apparently, this is another dish that lots of people -- but not me -- first tried as a child. There’s a meat-and-three place down the street from my office that serves a (very popular!) fried catfish and spaghetti on Fridays. Long, long lines. I hear it’s fantastic, but I’m not a big catfish fan.
  
• Barbecue spaghetti, barbecue baked potatoes, barbecue bologna, and barbecue pizza – Why have a baked potato when you can have a baked potato smothered in pork? Pork-topped food is definitely a Memphis thing. I’d say the best barbecue spaghetti is at Neely’s, the best baked potato is at Pig-N-Whistle, the best bologna is at Interstate Bar-B-Q, and the best pizza is at Coletta’s.
  
• Pizza and ranch dressing – My officemate swears he picked this one up in Texas, where he says it’s not uncommon for pizza to be served with a side of ranch. Matt’s from Michigan and he does this too, but he’s pretty well-traveled, so I guess that explains it. [Edit: Actually, Matt did the ranch thing with barbecue pizza, which technically means he combined two of the combinations on here. Trailblazer.]
  
• Fried Twinkies – Not really a food combo, but Southerners are willing to fry anything. The idea of fried Twinkies grosses me out, but I’ve never tried one. It’s a very popular carnival food around here. Along those same lines but more readily available: fried pickles (Mmm!), fried green tomatoes (Eww!), fried turkey legs (Meh.), fried peanut-butter-and-banana sandwiches (Elvis’ favorite).

Anyone tried any of these or know of any other can’t-miss combos?