Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Ralston Cheese Souffle
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the base
Cook Ralston Health Food and milk in a saucepan for 5 minutes.
Add butter, egg yolks, mustard, salt, cayenne pepper, and cheese to the mixture.
Fold and bake
Gently fold in the beaten egg whites.
Pour the mixture into a greased baking dish.
Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) for 15 minutes.
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.
-
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Cheese + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,962 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,430 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Cheese + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,426 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Cheese + mustardtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,805 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Egg whites trapped in the batter expand in the oven and give the soufflé its lift and airy structure.
- Ralston health food
- Cooked with milk, it thickens the base so it can hold the whipped egg whites.
- Grated cheese
- Adds rich flavour and fat, and helps the baked soufflé set and brown on top.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the cereal thickens, adding moisture and a soft texture.
The step that matters
Gently fold in the beaten egg whites.. Folding keeps the air bubbles in the whipped whites intact. Stirring or deflating them would prevent the soufflé from rising properly.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, cheese, milk, butter, pepper):
- Potatofits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Asparagusfits better
- Mustardthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, cheese, milk, butter, pepper. 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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