Name: Cheese Canape
Ingredients: circular pieces of toast; French mustard; grated Parmesan cheese; coarse sea salt; cayenne pepper

Why it works: Mustard and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,430 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Cheese Canape

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Spread French mustard on the circular pieces of toast.
Sprinkle thickly with grated Parmesan cheese, seasoned with coarse sea salt and cayenne pepper.
Place in a 400°F (200°C) oven until the cheese is melted and slightly toasted.

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.

Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,430 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Parmesan cheese + peppertop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,322 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Mustard + parmesan cheesetop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together545 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).