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Cheese Croquettes

Cheese croquettes are small fried balls of cheese and breadcrumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Cheese and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,130 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Cheese Croquettes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. In a bowl, combine grated cheese, bread crumbs, salt, and cayenne pepper.

  2. Form the mixture into small balls.

  3. Dip each ball into the beaten eggs, then coat with fine cracker crumbs.

Fry and serve

  1. Heat oil in a pan until boiling.

  2. Fry the croquettes until golden brown.

  3. Serve with salads.

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.

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.

  1. Cheese + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,130 recipes

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

  2. Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,662 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

  3. Bread + peppertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,964 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Cheese + peppertop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,861 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Cheese + eggtop 28% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,253 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Grated cheese
Provides the main flavor and fat, and melts to bind the croquettes.
Bread crumbs
Absorb moisture and give the mixture body so the balls hold their shape.
Beaten eggs
Bind the coating so the cracker crumbs stick to each ball.
Fine cracker crumbs
Form a crisp, golden outer crust when fried.

The step that matters

Fry the croquettes until golden brown. Frying at a steady, hot temperature crisps the crumb coating quickly, so the cheese inside melts without the outside over-browning or the croquettes absorbing excess oil.

“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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