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Dessert

The Universal Cook-book

Cheese Straws are a baked cheese pastry made with flour, cheese, egg yolk, cayenne, and water.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Fitts, Emma Frances (Bates) "Mrs. C. W. Fitts," 1856- [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 42 ingredients
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Why it works: Cheese and parmesan cheese match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and 1,040 recipes mention both. Both carry ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓

The recipe

Ingredients

Contains: egg, milk, wheat, shellfish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Make the paste

  1. Mix together 4 tablespoonfuls flour, pinch of salt, a very little cayenne pepper, and 3 ounces grated cheese.

  2. Add the beaten yolk of 1 egg, and then enough iced water to make a very stiff paste.

  3. Roll the paste on a board into a sheet 1 inch thick.

Cut and bake

  1. Cut the sheet into strips 1 inch wide and 5 inches long.

  2. Bake them about ten minutes in a very hot oven.

By Fitts, Emma Frances (Bates) "Mrs. C. W. Fitts," 1856- [from old catalog]. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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. See the original page.

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.

  1. Cheese + parmesan cheesetop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,040 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  2. Milk + buttertop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together81,222 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Parmesan cheese + buttertop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together4,158 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. Cheese + buttertop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together7,955 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Cream + buttertop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together41,494 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

Flour
Forms the structure of the stiff paste that holds the straws their shape.
Grated cheese
Adds savoury flavour and richness, and helps the straws brown as they bake.
Egg yolk
Binds the paste and adds richness and tenderness to the dough.

The step that matters

Keeping the paste very stiff. Iced water should be added only until the paste is very stiff. Too much liquid makes the dough slack and tough, so the straws spread and lose their crisp, short texture when baked.

“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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