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Cheese Fondu

A baked cheese dish with bread crumbs, milk, eggs, butter, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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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 ↓

Cheese Fondu

Oven, in the book's wordsA brisk oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a brisk oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the mixture

  1. Dissolve the baking soda in boiling water, then stir the dissolved baking soda into the milk.

  2. Soak the bread crumbs in the milk.

  3. Beat in the eggs, butter, pepper, salt, and finally the cheese.

Bake and serve

  1. Butter a baking dish and pour in the mixture.

  2. Cover with additional bread crumbs.

  3. Bake in a brisk oven at 400°F (200°C).

  4. Serve immediately, as it will fall quickly.

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

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

  2. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Bread + cheesetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,130 recipes

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

  4. Cheese + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,962 recipes

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

  5. Milk + cheesetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,426 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Set the custard structure so the fondue holds its shape when baked.
Dry cheese
Provides the main flavor and fat, and melts into the custard for richness.
Bread crumbs
Absorb the milk to give body and soften the texture of the mixture.
Milk
Supplies the liquid that binds the crumbs and eggs into a smooth custard.
Baking soda
Raises the mixture slightly and helps it puff in the oven.

The step that matters

Serve immediately. The baked fondue rises through the egg structure and then collapses as it cools, so it loses its airy texture quickly and should be served right away.

“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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