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Cheese Croquettes

Cheese croquettes are fried strips of a cheese and flour mixture.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Cream cheese and parmesan cheese match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 311 recipes. Both carry ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓

Cheese Croquettes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the cheese base

  1. Melt the butter in a saucepan.

  2. Add the flour and stir to form a smooth paste.

  3. Gradually add the milk while beating constantly.

  4. Add the grated Parmesan cheese and reduce heat as it melts.

  5. Fold in the small cubes of cheese.

  6. Season with salt, pepper, cayenne, and onion juice.

  7. Place the mixture in a shallow pan and chill.

Shape and fry

  1. Turn out onto a floured board and cut into strips, 1 inch wide by 2 inches long.

  2. Dip each strip in fine cracker crumbs, then in beaten egg, and again in crumbs.

  3. Fry in hot oil until golden brown and drain on brown paper.

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. Cream cheese + parmesan cheesetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together311 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  2. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Butter + cream cheesetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,747 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  4. Butter + parmesan cheesetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,163 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Butter
Enriches the base and carries flavour while the flour cooks into a paste.
Flour
Thickens the milk and cheese into a smooth paste that holds the shape of the strips.
Milk
Loosens the flour paste into a smooth sauce that binds the cheeses.
Parmesan cheese
Adds sharp, savoury flavour and firmness as it melts into the sauce.
Cream cheese
Adds creaminess and moisture that keeps the centre soft after chilling.
Egg yolks
Adds richness and helps bind the croquettes.

The step that matters

Chill the mixture until firm before shaping. A warm, soft mixture cannot be cut into clean strips and may slump or break apart in the hot oil. Chilling lets the starch-thickened base set so the strips hold their shape while frying.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, cream cheese, flour, milk, parmesan cheese, egg, pepper):

  1. Chivefits better
  2. Asparagusfits better
  3. Potatofits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, cream cheese, flour, milk, parmesan cheese, egg, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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