Why it works: Butter and parmesan cheese 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 ↓
Cheese Straws
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the dough
Take two ounces of flour, three ounces of grated Parmesan cheese, and two ounces of butter.
Rub the butter into the flour, add the cheese, a little salt, and cayenne pepper.
Make into a paste with the yolk of an egg.
Shape and bake
Roll the paste out into a sheet about an eighth of an inch thick and five inches wide.
Cut the sheet into narrow strips.
Bake in a hot oven for about ten minutes.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Parmesan Cheese | 1 oz (28g) | 110 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Cayenne | 1 tsp (1.8g) | 6 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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 their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Butter + parmesan cheesetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,163 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Parmesan cheese + peppertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,322 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
-
Flour + peppertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Rubbed into the flour to coat it and add richness and tenderness to the dough.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the straws together as they bake.
- Parmesan cheese
- Adds savory flavor and fat, and helps the straws brown as they bake.
- Egg yolk (in the method)
- Binds the flour, butter, and cheese into a workable paste.
The step that matters
Rolling the paste to an even sheet. Straws of uneven thickness bake unevenly, with thin ones burning before thick ones are set. An even eighth-inch sheet cooks through and browns uniformly.
“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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