Why it works: Cheese and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,962 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
To Maice a “fondue.”
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Beat the eggs in a bowl.
Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat.
Make the fondue
Add the grated Gruyère cheese to the melted butter and stir until smooth.
Combine the egg mixture with the cheese mixture, stirring continuously until thickened.
Serve
Serve immediately with bread for dipping.
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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Cheese + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,962 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Egg + cheesetop 28% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,253 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Thicken the mixture as they set, giving the fondue body when stirred with the cheese.
- Gruyère cheese
- Provides the main flavour and melts into a smooth, stretchy base.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, helping the cheese melt smoothly without clumping.
The step that matters
Combine the egg mixture with the cheese mixture. Egg proteins set when heated, so stirring continuously over gentle heat keeps the mixture smooth and thickened rather than curdled or grainy.
“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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