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Cheese Croquettes

Cheese croquettes are small fried balls of grated cheese mixed with bread crumbs, salt, cayenne pepper, and coated in cracker crumbs.

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 the croquettes

  1. Combine grated cheese, fine bread crumbs, salt, and cayenne pepper in a bowl.

  2. Form the mixture into small balls.

  3. Dip each ball into the beaten eggs.

  4. Coat each ball 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, when melted, binds the croquette filling.
Fine bread crumbs
Absorbs moisture and gives the mixture body so it holds its shape.
Beaten eggs
Acts as a binder and glue that helps the cracker crumb coating stick.
Fine cracker crumbs
Forms a crisp, golden-brown outer crust when fried.

The step that matters

Fry the croquettes until golden brown. Oil that is hot enough sets the crust quickly and browns it before the cheese inside leaks out. Oil that is too cool lets the coating soak up grease and the croquettes fall apart.

“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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