Some combinations are simply undeniably, insanely irresistible! – this one gets better as you grow older – simply because it transports you aaalll the way back to youth while adding another layer to the combo-experience!

My dad introduced me to a peanut butter-syrup combo when I was just a little girl – quite particularly Lyle’s Golden Syrup, the green tin with the lion and the bees nesting in its tummy. It was his absolute favourite and I bet you can still bribe him with this treat on any given occasion.  My mom used to pack these samies for school lunch and I quite explicitly remember the syrup cryslalizing the bread by the time second break arrived leaving you with a sweet, semi-crunchy yet utterly smooth, slightly salty peanut butter and syrupy mouth full of joy! The bread’s crust neutralizing the concert of flavors and textures – almost like a graceful drop of the curtains.

Dating a guy in my early twenties introduced me to peanut butter-and-strawberry-jam and a whole new layer was added to my combo-experience! This was our favourite treat given that both peanut butter and jam was added in copious amounts – enough to guarantee the married pair to escape from the sides of your sandwich with every bite!

This morning the French raised the “peanut butter & jam bar” by adding a ripe banana and a few salty peanuts to the combo! I presume this combo is probably generally well-known but I bet my bottom dollar nobody serves it like the French on freshly baked, toasted bread, generously layered with slightly salted peanut butter, homemade berry compot, sweet ripe bananas and a sprinkle of lightly salty peanuts!

Spectacular! Simply spectacular! If the French kiss in the same way as they eat their PB-J samies I certainly wouldn’t mind being French in my next life.