Why it works: Butter and bread 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 ↓
Cheese Fondu
Ingredients
Directions
Make the fondue
Melt the butter in a double boiler.
Add the milk, grated cheese, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, and baking soda; cook until smooth, about 5 to 6 minutes.
Slowly stir in the beaten eggs and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.
Serve
Serve immediately.
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.
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Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Cheese + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,130 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,962 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Milk + cheesetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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
- Grated cheese
- Melts into the sauce to give it body, richness and its characteristic flavour.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the cheese melts into, keeping the sauce smooth and pourable.
- Beaten eggs
- Set gently with heat to thicken and give the fondue a creamier, more cohesive texture.
- Fresh bread crumbs
- Absorb liquid and add body, helping the fondue thicken and hold together.
- Baking soda
- Raises the pH slightly, which helps the cheese melt smoothly without becoming stringy or grainy.
The step that matters
Slowly stir in the beaten eggs. Adding eggs too quickly or over high heat can scramble them into lumps. Adding them slowly while stirring, over gentle heat, lets them thicken the sauce evenly into a smooth fondue.
“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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