Layers of Flavor: Grilled Shrimp and Peaches

Some things just go together.

Certain flavors just taste good together. You know – like peanut butter and jelly or hot dogs and mustard or eggs and bacon. But what about when you discover new flavor combinations? Flavors you wouldn’t expect to taste good together but are absolutely delicious!

Well that’s sort of how I feel about this dish. But I can’t take all the credit. This dish is inspired by one of my favorite summertime dishes at a restaurant back in Kansas City. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot of good food going on around here. But this dish – oh I looked forward to it every summer. It was only on the menu a short time – when the peaches were in season. So when I saw local peaches at the farmer’s market this week, I knew exactly what was about to happen.

And you know what? It’s August and it’s National Peach Month, so peaches are bound to show up on the table at some point right? Right. But not in a typical way you’d expect. No peaches and cream going on over here. You probably know by now that I am not huge fan of sweet things. But you may not know that I am a huge fan of the salty-sweet flavor combination. And this dish hits the mark.

But wait – did you know that there is science behind why many of us enjoy the salty-sweet combination? Yup, there is. Basically, we get tired of the same tastes over and over again (that’s me!) But if you layer flavors such as a little sweet and a little salty they compliment each other and you aren’t tasting one specific flavor. So you know that means? You’re avoiding flavor fatigue. Yes, believe it or not, your taste buds get tired too!

Okay- so here it is – Grilled Shrimp and Peaches. And this isn’t just any Grilled Shrimp and Peaches – there’s paprika, there’s celery, there’s jalapeno. I know – right?! I love discovering tastes don’t really make sense and shouldn’t really work together but they do!

What flavors have you discovered that you wouldn’t think would taste good together?