Why it works: Cream cheese and sherry share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and 22 recipes mention both. Both carry ethyl pentanoate, which smells yeast, fruit. The science ↓
The recipe
4 servingsIngredients
Contains: milk (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.
Place the cubed cream cheese in a heavy saucepan over low heat.
Gradually whisk in the milk until it begins to blend with the cheese.
Stir in the dry sherry, dry mustard powder, garlic salt, ground black pepper and ground nutmeg.
Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for about 8 minutes until smooth and hot. Do not let it boil.
Transfer to a fondue pot or warmed serving bowl over low heat to keep it warm, and serve for dipping.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
-
Cream cheese + sherrytop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together22 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl pentanoate (yeast, fruit).
-
Pepper + nutmegtop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together13,015 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Garlic + peppertop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together27,044 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Mustard + garlictop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together4,037 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
-
Cream cheese + milktop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,395 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the garlic
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cream cheese, milk, sherry, mustard, pepper, nutmeg):
- Cinnamonbetter flavor fit
- Clovebetter flavor fit
- Allspicebetter flavor fit
- Garlicthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against cream cheese, milk, sherry, mustard, pepper, nutmeg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
The Sunday pairing: one pairing, the chemistry behind it, and how to cook it. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account for sign-in; Pro adds the full results and chemistry.