The Real Reason Fries Taste Better With A Chocolate Milkshake
Does your milkshake bring all the fries to the yard? To dip or not to dip? Whether or not you like to dunk your french fries in your chocolate milkshake is a deeply personal preference. But for those in the know, there is nothing better than introducing this oddly delicious combination to another person for the first time. Their face full of skepticism quickly melts into delight if they deign to give it a go. It's a combination that has sparked deep devotion, from Facebook groups celebrating fries and a Wendy's Frosty to establishments that sell chocolate milkshakes with actual fries on top (via Bon Appétit).
The french fries are coming in hot and crispy with all their salty splendor, but they meet their match when paired with the cool sweetness of a creamy chocolate milkshake. The competing textures, temperatures, and flavors battling it out in this culinary wonder duo leave everyone a winner. But what's at work in this enticing combo? According to Eater, when your tastebuds are stimulated by different flavors, that creates a biological reaction that sends feedback to your brain. This feedback helps you determine your food and flavor preferences.
The first taste of salty-sweet goodness on your tongue is just the beginning, and it only gets more interesting from there.
The fries enhance the milkshake
Bust out your beaker and fill it with a chocolate milkshake because there is some science behind this flavorful phenomenon. Delish discusses some fascinating research, led by Dr. Robert Margolskee, of the Monell Chemical Sense Center, which found that receptors on the tongue that transport sugars into cells do so when sodium is also nearby. This research suggests that sugar is activated by salt, offering insight into why the two flavors are so harmonious.
Sodium chloride is an essential nutrient to keep our bodies functioning, and when salt is added to food, it elevates the flavor to ensure that we consume more nutrients. According to Fine Cooking, salt plays down bitter flavor compounds and enhances sweetness. One could surmise that this is nature's way of telling us to eat more fries.
Glucose is an essential energy source for our cells, and just like salt, sugar does some pretty wild stuff in the body. The Conversation explains that when we consume sweet treats, the body releases a hit of dopamine and activates the brain's reward center. This positive biological response makes us more likely to consume that food again.
Go ahead and dip that golden salted fry into that sweet chocolate milkshake. Do it because it's delicious. Do it for the sake of science.