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Cheese Balls

Cheese balls are fried balls made from grated cheese, egg whites, and spices, coated in breadcrumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Cheese Balls

Why it works: Cheese and bread 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 Balls

Ingredients

Directions

Make the mixture

  1. Beat the egg whites until stiff.

  2. Add the salt, cayenne pepper, and grated cheese to the egg whites.

  3. Shape the mixture into small balls about the size of a walnut.

Coat and fry

  1. Roll each ball in fine bread crumbs, then in the beaten egg, and again in bread crumbs.

  2. Fry the balls in hot fat until golden brown.

  3. Serve with salad.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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

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

  2. Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,662 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

  3. Pepper + breadtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,964 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Cheese + peppertop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,861 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Cheese + eggtop 28% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,253 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Egg whites
Whipped until stiff, they lighten the mixture and help the balls puff and hold their shape.
Grated cheese
Provides the main flavor and, once bound with egg, sets firm when cooked.
Beaten egg
Acts as a glue that helps the bread crumb coating stick and then browns during frying.
Fine bread crumbs
Form a crisp, golden outer crust when fried.

The step that matters

Fry the balls in hot fat until golden brown. If the fat is not hot enough, the coating absorbs oil and turns greasy before the cheese inside sets. Hot fat seals the crumbs quickly, keeping the centers creamy-soft and the outside crisp.

“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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