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 ↓
Croutons for Soup
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.
Fry the croutons
Heat 1 inch of boiling fat in a frying pan.
Drop in enough bread squares to cover the surface of the fat.
Fry until browned, then remove with a skimmer and drain.
Serve
Add to hot soup and serve.
Oven alternative
For an alternative, butter thin slices of bread, cut into ¾ inch squares, and place in a buttered baking pan.
Brown in a 400°F (200°C) oven.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Stale bread
- Its dry, firm crumb crisps and browns rather than turning soft in the fat or oven.
- Boiling fat
- Transfers heat quickly to the bread surface, browning and crisping the squares.
- Butter
- Adds fat and milk solids that help the bread brown and taste rich in the oven.
The step that matters
Fry in a single layer that covers the surface. If too many squares go in at once, the fat cools down. Cooler fat heats the bread slowly, so the squares soak up oil and turn greasy instead of browning and crisping.
“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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