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 enough half-inch bread squares into the fat to cover the surface.
Fry until browned, then remove with a skimmer and drain.
Add to hot soup and serve.
Oven-brown the croutons
Butter thin slices of bread, cut into three-fourths 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
- Fat
- Conducts heat quickly to crisp and brown the bread surface while adding flavour.
- Bread
- Forms the body of the crouton, drying and crisping as it toasts.
- Butter
- Adds richness and helps the bread brown in the oven.
The step that matters
Fry until browned, with the fat at boiling heat. If the fat is not hot enough or too many squares are added at once, the bread absorbs grease and cools the fat, so the croutons turn soggy and pale instead of crisp and browned.
“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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