Why it works: Parmesan cheese and cheddar cheese match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 592 recipes. Both carry ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓
Cheese Straws
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the dough
On a clean surface, mix the flour with salt and Cayenne pepper.
Grate the Parmesan and Cheddar cheese.
Rub the grated cheese and butter into the flour mixture.
Add the egg yolk and mix until a smooth, stiff paste forms.
Flour the surface and rolling pin.
Roll out the paste to ⅛ inch thick and 5 inches wide.
Shape and bake
Cut the paste into strips that are ⅛ inch wide and 6 inches long.
Use round cutters to cut small rings from the paste.
Grease a baking sheet with butter.
Place the cheese straws and rings on the baking sheet.
Bake in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) for 10 minutes.
Check occasionally to ensure they do not burn; they should be pale brown when done.
Serve
Serve by threading the cheese straws through the rings.
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.
-
Parmesan cheese + cheddar cheesetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together592 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
-
Butter + cheddar cheesetop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,436 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Butter + parmesan cheesetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,163 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Butter + flourtop 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).
Butter and flour 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, it coats the flour particles and makes the dough short and tender.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the stiff paste together and lets it be rolled and cut.
- Parmesan cheese
- Adds concentrated savoury flavour and helps the straws brown in the oven.
- Cheddar cheese
- Adds flavour and richness and contributes to browning during baking.
- Egg
- Binds the dough into a smooth, stiff paste that holds its shape when cut.
The step that matters
Checking for doneness while baking. The straws are thin and brown quickly, so they can burn before the centre dries out. Checking them occasionally and removing them when pale brown keeps them crisp rather than scorched and bitter.
“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.
More cheese straws recipes
You might also like
Cheese Balls97 recipes
Cheese Cake55 recipes
Cream Cheese46 recipes
Lemon Pie37 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.