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English Monkey

A cheese and bread crumb fritter served over toasted crackers.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

English Monkey

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the base

  1. Soak the bread crumbs in milk for 15 minutes.

  2. Melt the butter in a pan.

  3. Add the cheese to the melted butter and stir until the cheese has melted.

Cook and serve

  1. Add the soaked bread crumbs, beaten egg, and seasonings to the pan.

  2. Cook for 3 minutes and pour the mixture over toasted crackers.

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. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Bread + cheesetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,130 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,962 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Milk + cheesetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,426 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

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

What each ingredient does

Stale bread crumbs
Soak up the milk and give the mixture body and a soft, thick texture.
Milk
Softens the bread crumbs and adds moisture to the mixture.
Soft mild cheese
Melts into the butter to make a creamy, rich, spreadable base.
Egg
Sets when heated, helping bind the mixture together.
Butter
Adds fat and richness and helps the cheese melt smoothly.

The step that matters

Melting the cheese into the butter. Cheese is made of proteins and fat that tighten and separate when overheated, turning grainy or oily. Melting it over gentle heat while stirring keeps the sauce smooth and creamy.

“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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