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 ↓
Welsh Rarebit
1 slice of bread per servingIngredients
Directions
Prepare
Toast one slice of bread for each portion of rarebit you want to serve.
Make the cheese sauce
In a chafing dish, melt the butter over low heat.
Add the beer or ale (or milk), Worcestershire sauce, dry mustard, and cayenne pepper; mix well.
Gradually add the diced cheese while stirring constantly until smooth.
If needed, add more beer or milk to achieve a creamy consistency.
Serve
Pour the cheese mixture over the toasted bread and serve.
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.
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Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Cheese + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,130 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Cheese + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,962 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,430 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Cheese + mustardtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,805 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- American cheese
- Melts into the sauce to provide the main body, richness and smooth texture.
- Beer or ale
- Thins the melted cheese and adds a mild malty flavor.
- Butter
- Adds fat that keeps the sauce smooth and glossy as it melts.
- Worcestershire sauce
- Adds savory, tangy depth that balances the richness of the cheese.
- Dry mustard
- Adds sharp, pungent flavor that cuts through the fat of the cheese.
The step that matters
Gradually add the diced cheese while stirring constantly. Cheese added too quickly or over high heat can overheat and separate, leaving a greasy, grainy sauce. Adding it gradually over low heat lets the proteins and fat emulsify into a smooth sauce.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cheese, butter, beer, sauce, pepper, bread):
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Tomatofits about as well
- Mustardthe original
- Potatofits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against cheese, butter, beer, sauce, pepper, bread. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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