Name: Cheese Sandwich
Ingredients: Cracked wheat bread; Cheese

Why it works: Bread and cheese are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,130 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Cheese Sandwich

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Cracked wheat bread
Cheese

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.

Place a slice of cracked wheat bread on a plate.
Add a layer of cheese on top.
Toast in a 400°F (200°C) oven until the bread is golden.
Serve immediately, allowing one sandwich per person.

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.

Bread + cheesetop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,130 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Wheat + breadtop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together209 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
Wheat + cheesetop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together199 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).