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Cheese Croquettes

Cheese croquettes are fried balls of cheese coated in cracker crumbs.

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

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Beat the egg white until frothy.

  2. Mix in the grated cheese, cayenne pepper, and salt.

  3. Form the mixture into small croquettes.

Coat and fry

  1. Roll each croquette in cracker crumbs, then in egg white, and again in cracker crumbs.

  2. Fry in hot oil until golden brown.

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.

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. Egg + cheesetop 28% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,253 recipes

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

  3. Egg + peppertop 33% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together50,580 recipes

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

Egg and pepper 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

Egg white
Binds the cheese mixture and helps the cracker crumb coating adhere.
Grated cheese
Provides the main flavor and, when melted, a rich, savory filling.
Cracker crumbs
Form a crisp, browned outer coating during frying.

The step that matters

Frying in hot oil. If the oil is not hot enough, the croquettes absorb excess oil and turn greasy, while the coating may not brown properly. Hot oil quickly sets the crumb crust and gives a golden surface.

“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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