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Cheese Sandwiches

A sandwich made with various cheeses, mustard, and optional toppings, baked or served hot.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Swiss cheese and cheese share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 65 recipes. Both carry ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓

Cheese Sandwiches

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the fillings

  1. Spread a thin layer of French mustard on slices of American or Swiss cheese.

  2. Place the cheese between buttered graham or rye bread.

  3. Mix grated cheese with coarse sea salt, paprika, and a little cream or butter. Spread the mixture between slices of brown, graham, or white bread or crackers.

  4. Rub Neufchatel cheese to a paste. Spread the paste between thin slices of brown bread.

Make the squares

  1. Cut bread into 2-inch squares. Remove a smaller square from the center. Fill the space with a piece of American cheese.

  2. Sprinkle with salt and paprika. Cover with the top slice of bread. Brush with melted butter or beaten egg white.

Bake and serve

  1. Bake in a hot oven (400°F / 200°C) until browned. Serve very hot on hot plates.

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. Swiss cheese + cheesetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together65 recipes

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

  2. Mustard + ryetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together35 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

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

  4. Cheese + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,130 recipes

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

  5. Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

American or swiss cheese
Melts into a creamy layer and gives the sandwich its savoury, rich flavour.
Neufchatel cheese
Softens into a smooth paste that adds moisture and a mild, tangy richness.
Melted butter or beaten egg white
Brushed on top, it promotes browning and a glossy, golden crust in the oven.
Grated cheese
Mixed with cream or butter, it melts into a moist filling with a concentrated cheese flavour.
French mustard
Adds sharp, acidic bite that balances the richness of the cheese.

The step that matters

Bake in a hot oven until browned. At 400°F the cheese must melt through while the bread crust browns. Too little heat leaves the filling cold and the bread pale; too long can scorch the surface or dry out the cheese.

“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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