Name: Cheese Sandwiches
Ingredients: one tablespoonful of butter; two tablespoonfuls of grated cheese; a teaspoonful of vinegar; salt; pepper; mustard

Why it works: Vinegar and mustard are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,067 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Cheese Sandwiches

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the cheese

Cut American cheese into slices one-eighth of an inch thick.
Sprinkle the cheese with salt.
Butter the bread well.
Cut Gruyere cheese into thin slices.
Lay the cheese on the bread.
Sprinkle the cheese with salt and pepper.
Add French mustard.
Grate any cheese.

Make the paste

Rub the grated cheese with butter to form a paste.
Spread the paste on the bread.
Dust the bread with salt and pepper.

Serve

Cut the sandwich into strips and serve with salad.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

227Calories

8 gProtein

21 gFat

2 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 6 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Cheese	1 oz (28g) cheddar	113
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Mustard	1 tsp (5g) yellow	3
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.

By Mary Ronald. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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.

Vinegar + mustardtop 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).
Pepper + mustardtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,430 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Cheese + mustardtop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,805 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Cheese + vinegartop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together922 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-methylbutanol (malty, whiskey).

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

What each ingredient does

Butter: Adds richness and helps bind the grated cheese into a smooth paste.
Grated cheese: Provides savory flavor and body, and melts into the paste for spreading.
Vinegar: Adds a sharp acidity that brightens the rich cheese flavor.
Mustard: Contributes a pungent, sharp aroma that cuts through the richness of the cheese.