Taco Bell's menu-item creation game has been pretty on point in the past year or so, seeing such new hybrid wonders as the quesadilla-wrapped Quesarito and the glorious Sriracha Menu. Now, it seems like the next logical step to combine these two into the ultimate (i.e. surely not literally ultimate, because there's definitely more to come) T-Bell monster: the Sriracha Quesarito, which officially drops today, February 26th. Frankenstein, eat your heart out.

The new Quesarito doesn't come with straight-up Sriracha, per se, but rather an orange Sriracha Crema, which Taco Bell reps are calling "the spiciest" sauce on their entire menu -- could a successor to the late, great Lava sauce be emerging? Other than that, it looks and tastes like your typical Quesarito (you know what one of those tastes like, right?), and is available with shredded chicken, ground beef, or steak.

Also launching on Thursday is the Snapple Lemonade Freeze, which joins their already burgeoning Freeze lineup and will hopefully remind you that a season other than winter exists.

Thrillist

Last year, the Cronut drew hordes of people to a little bakery on the streets of New York City. The creation was a hit- the croissant/donut hybrid was praised for its unique texture & complexity, and bakeries across the nation began cashing in on the trend and producing their own versions.

This Fall, a new foodie experiment is catching peoples' attention. It's called the Ramnut, and it's a pastry made up of ramen and filled with sugary goodness.

The Ramnut might not be as delicious as the Cronut- the UCLA student behind the recipe even says it might not be that good- but it is at the least, thought provoking. Josh Scherer explains that his motives for cooking the ramnut are rooted much deeper than taste.

By recycling the same Pinterest recipe for red velvet kit-kat cheesecake over and over, you’re complicit within cultural stagnation; you’re taking things from the conversation without adding anything new. I’m just trying to spark up a few lines of dialogue. I want to do things that are unique, things that have never been done before, and whether they taste good or not is tertiary to the real goal of progress.

But if food doesn't taste good, then what's the point in eating it? Well, without experimenting it's hard to discover new treasures. Since the beginning of time, our ancestors have done all the hard work for us, trying new foods and establishing the standards for what is right or wrong to eat. But we now have the ability to continue the progress in a multi-cultural and global fashion.

Modern re-inventions like the Ramnut are expanding the frontier of foodie culture and incorporating ingredients that have originated from around the world. And Scherer isn't the only one who is leading this cultural reaction to the foodie phenomenon. IBM recently developed a culinary app called Chef Watson that allows users to create their own recipes using any ingredients they wish. The app can even do the ingredient selection for you- analyzing the chemical contents of the ingredients that underlie the food's taste.

It doesn't matter if you rely on technology to spark creativity, or have a knack for creating tasty combinations on the fly- anybody can contribute to the foodie movement. If you want to see what the Ramnut takes and maybe get a little inspiration to create something yourself, check out the recipe below.

RAMNUT RECIPE & INSTRUCTIONS

6 packs instant ramen
3 whole eggs
64 oz prepared horchata
Nonstick spray
Oil for frying
Various frostings, fillings, and toppings

1) Get that horchata boiling in a large sauce pot. Toss in all your ramen noodles and cook 3-4 minutes or until tender.
2) Strain ramen noodles in colander and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes. Whisk 3 eggs in a large mixing bowl then add in your cooled ramen noodles and mix thoroughly.
3) Spray down a 7×11 in baking pan with nonstick spray then dump in ramen egg mixture and spread evenly across surface. Add a layer of plastic wrap on top, press the ramen down hard with your hands, then throw it in the freezer for 3-4 hours. You want it to be relatively frozen but still workable.
4) Flip the semi-frozen ramen sheet onto your cutting board, and use something circular and a chef’s knife to shape them into donuts.
5) Heat your oil to 325 degrees and fry the ramen donuts for 4 or 5 minutes on each side, until golden brown on the outside and steamy on the inside.
6) Let the oil drain on a paper towel, then slather the donut in your favorite toppings.

Culinary Bro-Down

Taco Bell | Sriracha Quesarito Debuts Today

LA Food Culture | The Ramnut