Name: Brown Bread Cream Toast with Cheese
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons butter; 1 tablespoon flour; 1 cup milk; 1 cup grated cheese; 1 cup cheese, cut into small cubes; Salt, to taste; Cayenne pepper, to taste; Slices of toasted brown bread

Why it works: Butter and bread 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 ↓

Brown Bread Cream Toast with Cheese

Ingredients

Directions

In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat and stir in the flour to make a roux.
Gradually add the milk, stirring constantly until the mixture boils.
Add the grated cheese and a well-beaten egg, cooking slowly until well mixed.
Stir in the cheese cubes and season with salt and cayenne.
Pour the cheese sauce over slices of toasted brown bread and serve.

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.

Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,232 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Cheese + breadtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,130 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,962 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Milk + cheesetop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,426 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).