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Cheese Balls

Cheese balls are small fried balls made from grated cheese, egg whites, cayenne pepper, and salt, coated in cracker crumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Cheese Balls

Why it works: Cheese and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,861 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Cheese Balls

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. In a bowl, mix together the grated cheese, salt, and cayenne pepper.

  2. Fold in the beaten egg whites until well combined.

  3. Shape the mixture into small balls.

  4. Roll each ball in cracker crumbs to coat.

Fry and serve

  1. Heat lard in a pan and fry the balls until golden brown.

  2. Drain on brown paper and serve with vegetable salad.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Cheese + peppertop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,861 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Cheese + eggtop 28% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,253 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Pepper + eggtop 33% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together50,580 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Pepper and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 50,580 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Grated cheese
Provides the main flavour and, once melted, richness and body to the balls.
Egg whites
Beaten stiff, they trap air and give the mixture a light, airy structure.
Cracker crumbs
Form a crisp outer coating that browns when fried and helps hold the shape.
Lard
Frying fat that conducts heat evenly and drives browning and crispness on the outside.

The step that matters

Folding in the egg whites. Stiff whites hold the air that lightens the mixture; overmixing or deflating them makes the balls dense and heavy. Fold gently until just combined.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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