Name: Rarebit a LA Methodist
Ingredients: one teaspoon butter in a chafing dish; one teaspoon cornstarch; one-half cup milk; one-half pound cheese cut in small pieces; one-third teaspoon salt; one-third teaspoon mustard; salt; mustard; vinegar; pepper

Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. 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.

Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,067 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,962 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,430 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Milk + cheesetop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked 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

Cheese: Melts into the sauce to give it its rich flavor and creamy body.
Milk: Forms the liquid base that the melted cheese and starch combine into.
Cornstarch: Thickens the milk so the sauce clings to the toast instead of running off.
Butter: Adds fat and richness and helps start the sauce smoothly.
Vinegar: Adds a slight sharpness that balances the richness of the cheese.

The step that matters

Stir in the cheese until melted. Cheese turns stringy or grainy when it overheats or cooks too fast, so it should melt gently over low heat while stirring. Cut into small pieces, it melts more evenly and the sauce stays smooth.

Swap the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, milk, cheese, vinegar, pepper):

Capsicumfits better
Potatofits about as well
Mustardthe original
Tomatofits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, milk, cheese, vinegar, pepper. 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
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Cheese	1 oz (28g) cheddar	113
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Mustard	1 tsp (5g) yellow	3
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Rarebit a LA Methodist