Why it works: Celery and mustard are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,169 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
Welsh Rarebit
Ingredients
Directions
Make the cheese base
Melt the butter in a broad saucepan over medium heat until it hisses.
Stir in the cheese and then add the dry seasonings.
Add the eggs
Beat the eggs separately until very light, then mix them together with a few swift strokes.
Add three spoonfuls of the hot cheese mixture to the eggs to warm them.
Pour the egg mixture into the saucepan, stirring continuously.
After one minute, add the Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice.
Serve
Serve the mixture on rounds of hot, buttered toast.
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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Celery + mustardtop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,169 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Lemon + celerytop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,467 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together16,012 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Cheese + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,962 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
- Soft grated cheese
- Melts into the sauce to give it its rich, creamy body and flavour.
- Eggs
- Set when gently heated, thickening the sauce so it holds together on toast.
- Ale
- Adds liquid that loosens the melted cheese into a smooth sauce.
- Butter
- Adds fat that helps the cheese melt smoothly and gives a rich flavour.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and balances the richness of the cheese.
The step that matters
Pour the egg mixture into the saucepan, stirring continuously.. Eggs set when heated, and if the mixture gets too hot or sits still it can curdle or scramble. Constant stirring spreads the heat evenly so the sauce thickens smoothly.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cheese, egg, butter, sauce, celery, pepper, mustard):
- Lemonthe original
- Avocadofits about as well
- Limefits less well
- Figfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against cheese, egg, butter, sauce, celery, pepper, mustard. 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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