Why it works: Rice and cheese work together. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 942 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Rice with Cheese
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Cook 1 quart of rice and keep it hot.
Make the white sauce.
Make the cheese sauce
Just before removing the sauce from heat, add the cheese and beat until melted.
Combine and serve
Pour the cheese sauce over the rice in a heated vegetable dish, lifting the grains with a fork to allow the sauce to coat every grain.
Serve immediately.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Rice + cheesetop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together942 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Cheese + saucetop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,987 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Rice + saucetop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,396 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cooked rice
- Forms the bulk of the dish, and its grains hold the sauce that coats them.
- Grated cheese
- Melts into the sauce to add savory flavor and a smooth, rich texture.
- White sauce
- Adds moisture and creaminess, coating the grains and carrying the cheese flavor through the dish.
The step that matters
Adding the cheese just before the sauce leaves the heat. Cheese proteins tighten and can turn grainy or oily when overheated. Adding it off the most intense heat and beating gently lets it melt into a smooth emulsion.
“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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