Why it works: Feta cheese and cheese match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and 113 recipes mention both. Both carry ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓
The recipe
100 pastriesIngredients
Contains: egg, milk, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.
Melt 1/4 cup butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.
Slowly whisk in the hot milk. Simmer, stirring, until thickened, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and white pepper, then remove from heat and let cool 5 minutes.
Whisk the egg yolks into the warm sauce one at a time. Stir in the crumbled feta, shredded Monterey Jack and chopped parsley until evenly mixed.
Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Stack the phyllo sheets and cover them with a damp kitchen towel so they do not dry out. Cut the stack into long strips about 3 inches (8 cm) wide.
Brush one phyllo strip with some of the 1 cup melted butter. Place about 1 tablespoon of filling at one end, fold the corner over the filling to make a triangle, and keep folding the strip over itself like a flag. Repeat with the remaining strips.
Arrange the triangles on the baking sheets and brush their tops with the remaining melted butter.
Bake 12 to 15 minutes, until golden brown and the filling is hot and set to 160°F (71°C). Let cool 5 minutes before serving.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Feta cheese + cheesetop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together113 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
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Butter + milktop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together81,222 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + cheesetop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together7,955 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Milk + cheesetop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together4,424 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Phyllo dough + feta cheesetop 4% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together27 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the white pepper
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, milk, phyllo dough, feta cheese, egg, cheese):
- Cinnamonbetter flavor fit
- Nutmegbetter flavor fit
- Dillbetter flavor fit
- White pepperthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, milk, phyllo dough, feta cheese, egg, cheese. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
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