Skip to main content
Snack

Devilled Cheese Crackers

A cheese spread served on toast or crackers, flavored with mustard, vinegar, and Worcestershire sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Mustard and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,067 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Devilled Cheese Crackers

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

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

Make the spread

  1. In a bowl, mix the grated cheese, dry mustard, and a little salt and pepper.

  2. Add the olive oil and beat until creamy.

  3. Stir in the vinegar and Worcestershire sauce.

Bake and serve

  1. Spread the mixture on toast or crackers.

  2. Heat in a 400°F (200°C) oven for a few minutes.

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

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Olive + mustardtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,950 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  3. Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,430 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Olive + vinegartop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,297 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).

  5. Cheese + mustardtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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

Grated cheese
Provides the main body, flavor, and melting texture of the spread.
Olive oil
Adds fat that beats the cheese into a creamy, smooth mixture.
Dry mustard
Contributes sharp, pungent flavor that balances the richness of the cheese.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that brightens the flavor and cuts the richness of the cheese.
Worcestershire sauce
Adds savory, tangy depth to the spread.

The step that matters

Beat in the olive oil until creamy. Oil must be worked into the cheese gradually so it emulsifies into a smooth, creamy spread rather than separating into greasy pools. Beating also evens out the texture so the mixture spreads and heats uniformly.

Swap the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cheese, olive, vinegar, pepper, sauce):

  1. Capsicumfits about as well
  2. Mustardthe original
  3. Tomatofits about as well
  4. Cucumberfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against cheese, olive, vinegar, pepper, sauce. 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.

You might also like

FrittersFritters56 recipesCrisp CrackersCrisp Crackers7 recipes