Name: Non-Brie Cheese
Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups water; 2 tbsp agar-agar (powder or flakes); 1/2 cup raw cashews, finely ground; 1/2 cup firm tofu, crumbled; 1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes; 1/4 cup lemon juice; 2 tbsp tahini; 1 1/2 tsp onion powder; 1 tsp salt; 1/4 tsp garlic powder; 1/8 tsp ground dill seed (optional); 2 tbsp wheat germ (optional)

Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓

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.

Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Lemon + dilltop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together976 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Tofu + wheattop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together48 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Garlic + dilltop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together943 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Tofu + garlictop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together604 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

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

What each ingredient does

Agar-agar: Gelling agent that sets the mixture into a firm, sliceable block as it cools.
Raw cashews: Provide creamy body and fat, giving the cheese a rich, smooth texture.
Firm tofu: Adds protein-based body and moisture, helping the blended mixture hold together.
Nutritional yeast flakes: Contribute savory, nutty, cheese-like flavour.
Lemon juice: Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and sharpens the cheese taste.
Tahini: Adds fat and a toasty, sesame richness to the blend.

The step that matters

Blending immediately after simmering. Agar begins to gel as it cools, so the hot mixture must be blended and poured right away. If it cools first, it can set unevenly and leave lumps or a grainy texture.

Swap the dill

The recipe marks dill as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (agar, tofu, lemon, tahini, onion, garlic, wheat):

Cuminfits better
Corianderfits better
Parsleyfits better
Dillthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against agar, tofu, lemon, tahini, onion, garlic, wheat. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Cashew	1 oz (28g / ~18 nuts)	157
Tahini	1 tbsp (15g)	89
Tofu	100g firm	76
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Dill Seed	5 sprigs fresh (1g) / 1 tsp dried	4
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Water	not in our table	0
Wheat	not in our table	0

Non-Brie Cheese

Non-Brie Cheese

Ingredients

Directions

Make the base

Set and serve

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)