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Fondu Au Gratin

A baked cheese fondue with egg yolks, milk, and breadcrumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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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 ↓

Fondu Au Gratin

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the base

  1. Melt the butter in a saucepan.

  2. Stir in the flour and mix well.

  3. Add the egg yolks and milk, then simmer for 2 minutes while stirring.

  4. Remove from heat and stir in the shredded cheese, seasoning with salt and pepper.

Bake and serve

  1. Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks and gently fold them into the mixture.

  2. Pour the mixture into a shallow baking dish and sprinkle with bread crumbs.

  3. Dot with small pieces of the remaining butter.

  4. Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 30 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. Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

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

  2. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

  3. Cheese + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,130 recipes

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

  4. Butter + cheesetop 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

Egg whites
Whipped to stiff peaks, they lighten the mixture and help it puff while baking.
Egg yolks
Thicken the sauce as they heat and add richness to the custard base.
Cheese
Melts into the base to add savory flavor and a creamy, stringy texture.
Flour
Combined with butter to form a roux that thickens the milk mixture.
Milk
Forms the liquid base that the flour and egg yolks thicken into a sauce.
Butter
Adds richness and flavor, and its milk solids help the crumb topping brown.

The step that matters

Fold in the egg whites gently. Deflating whipped egg whites removes the air that makes the dish rise, so folding must be light and quick to keep the mixture airy.

“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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