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I really like the sweet/savory combo. More so in apps/entrees than in desserts, though. I've made the Stuffed Chicken Breasts w/ Grapes, Hazelnuts and Parmesan recipe that is linked in the post and thought it was delicious. Very easy to prepare as well.

My all time favorite sweet/savory meal is Cinnamon Short Rib Parpadelle. The buttery, salty bite of short rib layered with sweet, spicy cinnamon makes such a lovely fall dinner. Here's the recipe: http://www.clovesandcream.com/2009/06/cinnamon-short-rib-parpadelle.html

I'm a huge fan of fruit in salads, and adding fruit to pork.

But I still don't really like savory herbs in desserts.

Do not like! I don't even want sweet and savory on the same plate, lest they accidentally touch.

For those who aren't a fan of a savory flavor in something that is predominately sweet: I mostly agree with you, but have found that rosemary seems to be my exception to the rule.

In Chicago, the chain Orange serves delicious orange/rosemary french toast, and I've gotten some wonderful peach/rosemary lemonade at Whole Foods recently. It doesn't overpower the sweetness, it just adds some depth to the flavor.

I'm with ShellyIN. So glad to know I'm not alone! I'm of the opinion that food should either be sweet or savory, not both.

If by "sweet-savory" you mean "eat dessert and the main course at the same time, even off the same plate" then yes, I like sweet-savory combinations. :-)

Love sweet in an otherwise savory dish, so long as it's balanced and not too sweet. Ate at a Mario Batali restaurant this weekend where the gnocchi with figs and walnut pesto got this exactly right.

I find the idea of sweet meats and savory items disgusting. Why turn savory items into desserts and another excuse for a sugar fix?

Salted caramel comes to mind. I have come to like sweet-savory combinations, but I think the key is to be clearly on one side or the other. For savory dishes with a sweet note and for desserts with a savory element.

This is one of the few food preparations I don't like! I think it's because I just prefer salty foods in general. So meat cooked with fruit, no (or sugar in pasta sauce, gross!) But salted caramel, heck yes!

I love savory desserts (apple pie and cheddar, anyone?), but PLEASE leave my main course alone. I don't even like barbeque sauce.

I love sweet/savory, but I cannot stand citrus/meat. Keep your lemon chicken and orange glazed pork to yourself, plzkthx.

Oh man, totally yes! I'm sure having a palate of an Eastern European used to sweet/savory dishes in meat stews as a kid also let me experience and love all sorts of other things-like Thai food, etc... there's a world of possibilities out there and I agree with Porkbelly-there has to be a balance-otherwise, it's just bad.

Porkbelly,
Salt is a flavor enhancer, so it's not inherently savory. I put it in caramel sauce all the time, and one of my favorite sweet combos is chocolate and peanut butter, mostly because of the sweet salty.

BBQ sauce, though? Totally unacceptable! Heck, I don't even eat ketchup on french fries, because it's offensively sweet.

I love strawberry-basil smoothies. Does that count?

Fruit meat = no. Always. Except maybe a little prune or fig in a sauce, but I think that almost doesn't count.

That should be fruit *plus* meat. Not sure why it ignored my plus sign...

I love the sweet/savory combination and have been playing with it a lot all summer. This past weekend, I made a pear tart with caramelized onions and gorgonzola that had just enough of a savory element to keep it from being dessert-ish. Our biggest problem was deciding when to eat it.

http://chimeraobscura.com/mi/tarted-up/

Butternut squash soup with ale and sharp cheddar...does that count? I guess that's more salty-sweet. Still damn good though. I also make a vodka sauce with a lot of heavy cream and blue cheese.

That squash, sage and sausage lasagna is getting eaten this weekend. But beware to anyone trying to make a bechamel like they're making it....8 tablespoons of butter is NOT two sticks!!

Oh and anyone else who loves a good savoury meal with a hint of sweet should try out Jamie Oliver's Milk Chicken. It was featured here a few weeks back and is out of this world. Sage, milk and cinnamon combine to give the whole thing a sweet, perfumed taste. But the garlic and roast chicken ensure that it's still a chicken roast, no matter how you dress it up.

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/chicken-recipes/chicken-in-milk

I like sweet-savoury main dish combos as long as they are also spicy. Like apricots in curried chicken, or raisins in a zippy chickpea tagine. I also like pork with apples. And spicy/sweet chutneys like tomato and raisins with fennel. And sweet potato soup with cinnamon and hot peppers.

But sometimes carrots in a vegetable soup are too sweet for me, as is almost any commercial pasta sauce.

So go figure.

And I do not like herbs in my dessert. Or cheese with my pie.

I love the sweet/savory combination. Sharp cheddar and apple slices, eaten so that every bite combines apple and cheese, has been my favourite snack going right back to childhood (though I've never eaten apple pie with cheddar, oddly!). In fact, for sweet vegetables like butternut squash, I really can't understand why anyone bothers to prepare them in ways that enhance the sweetness instead of complementing it with something savory.

And as for sweet/spicy chutneys with my curry, or (decent) cranberry sauce with my turkey? This took me longer to learn to appreciate but I'm all for it.

Bacon-wrapped figs as an appetizer...and pickle and peanut butter sandwiches!

What's wrong with enjoying the delicate flavor of good quality meat, or fresh fish or garden vegetables? Why try to mask a truly good cut of meat with sauce or sweetness?

Iona: there's nothing wrong with it. But as an accent, a touch of contrasting flavour balances, it doesn't mask.

I do like sweet and savory together. They have a way of working together to set off the main flavor and add some extra interest. But one definitely needs to be dominant.

Some things. I have a "salt tooth" as opposed to a sweet one. Love roast pork baked with apples or pears, or alongside applesauce. Love broiled chicken with apricot glaze. Love chocolate-covered salty pretzels, M&Ms (especially peanut!) mixed into salted & buttered popcorn, and salted caramel.

But for some odd reason I cannot tolerate the sweet/savory pairings of specific things, like raisins in savory rice (like in certain Moroccan and North African dishes) or coconut in many savory/spicy Caribbean dishes. And no berries in my green salad, please. Interestingly, I can't get enough Indian food, which does pair sweet/savory fairly often.

oh man, I have a major issue with Fruit Apathy, even for tarts like these: http://tinyurl.com/lq4pdk

Flour Salt in SF has a rosemary panna cotta. I think panna cotta is a terrible dessert and with the rosemary it is awesome.

They also have a chocolate budino with fleur de sel. I dont like sweets so these are good for me.

@ShellyIn, I agree salt is a flavor enhancer and is in almost everything. I generally think of fat salt as savory and fat sugar=sweet. Caramel is interesting. It's essentially cooked sugar, but it can go either way, savory or sweet. We sear all sorts of proteins to caramelize them -- basically cooking the sugars to bring out the flavor, yet we think of them as savory. So I'd consider both salt and sugar flavor enhancers.

I like them sometimes. There's always that risk that savory/sweet combos will be too sweet. My boyfriend, on the other hand, absolutely loves them and my dad hates them and pretty much refuses to eat any meat/fruit combo.

Love myself the sweet/savory combo. I guess it's the hedonistic part of me that believes the more taste buds and olfactory receptors I can stimulate, the better (in a pleasing combination of course).

I didn't use to like sweet and savory combos, but I kind of grew out of my aversion of it. I like the alternation between the two with every bite.

Any time your dealing in contrasts the key is balance. Sweet and savory works when both flavors adequately fill he void left by the other. If any one flavor profile upstages the other then the dish as a whole tends to collapse.