Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Bbown Bbead Cheese Sandwiches
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Butter the slices of brown bread.
Cover the buttered bread with slices of Cheddar cheese, about ¼ inch thick.
Sprinkle cayenne pepper over the cheese.
Assemble the bread and cheese into sandwiches.
Bake and serve
Place the sandwiches on a baking sheet.
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven until the cheese is melted.
Serve hot.
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.
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Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + cheddar cheesetop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,436 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Bread + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,964 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Bread + cheddar cheesetop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together62 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
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Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Brown bread
- Provides the structure that holds the melted cheese and crisps in the oven.
- Butter
- Adds fat that helps the bread brown and crisp and carries flavor.
- Cheddar cheese
- Melts into a creamy layer that binds the sandwich and gives it its main flavor.
- Cayenne pepper
- Adds a sharp heat that contrasts with the rich cheese and butter.
The step that matters
Bake until the cheese is melted. Cheese goes from melted to rubbery and greasy if overheated, so watch the sandwiches closely and stop once the cheese has just softened and flowed.
“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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