Why it works: Parmesan cheese and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,163 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
To Make a Fondue
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the mixture
Separate the yolks from the whites of the eggs.
Beat the yolks in a bowl and add the grated cheese and butter.
Season with pepper and salt, then mix thoroughly.
Whisk the egg whites until stiff and gently fold them into the mixture.
Bake and serve
Pour the mixture into a soufflé dish or small round cake tin, filling it only halfway.
Pin a napkin around the dish and bake in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) for 15 to 20 minutes.
Serve immediately while hot.
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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Parmesan cheese + buttertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,163 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Parmesan cheese + peppertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,322 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
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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 + parmesan cheesetop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,368 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Whipped whites trap air and yolks bind the mixture, giving the fondue its light, puffed structure.
- Parmesan cheese or cheshire cheese
- Provides rich savoury flavour and fat, and sets firmly as the mixture bakes.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smooth, tender texture in the baked custard.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Whites must be whipped until stiff but folded gently, because deflating the foam removes the air that lets the fondue rise in the oven.
“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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