Why it works: Parmesan cheese and cheddar cheese match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 592 recipes. Both carry ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓
Cheese Straws
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the dough
Mix flour, salt, and cayenne pepper on a board.
Grate Parmesan and Cheddar cheese.
Rub cheese and butter into the flour mixture.
Add the egg yolk and mix into a smooth, stiff paste.
Shape
Flour the board and rolling pin, then roll out the paste to ⅛ inch thick and 5 inches wide.
Cut the paste into strips ⅛ inch wide and 5 inches long.
Use round cutters to cut little rings from the paste.
Bake and serve
Grease a baking sheet with butter.
Place cheese straws and rings on the baking sheet.
Bake in a hot oven (400°F) for 10 minutes, checking to prevent burning.
Serve by threading cheese straws through the rings.
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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Parmesan cheese + cheddar cheesetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together592 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
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Butter + cheddar cheesetop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,436 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + parmesan cheesetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,163 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Parmesan cheese + peppertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,322 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the paste that holds the straws together.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a short, tender texture as it is rubbed into the flour.
- Parmesan cheese
- Contributes savory flavor and helps the straws brown in the oven.
- Cheddar cheese
- Adds rich cheese flavor and moisture to the paste.
- Egg
- Binds the dough into a smooth, stiff paste that holds its shape.
The step that matters
Baking with attention to browning. The straws are thin and the oven is hot, so they can go from golden to burnt quickly. Checking during baking prevents burning, since cheese and flour darken fast at high heat.
“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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