Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Cheese Fondu
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.
Make the mixture
In a saucepan, combine the cheese and butter with the hot milk.
Stir in the beaten egg, salt, pepper, and bread crumbs.
Bake and serve
Spread the mixture on crackers or toast.
Bake at 400°F (200°C) until the cheese is melted and the top is slightly browned, about 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.
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Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Cheese + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,130 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Cheese + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,962 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Milk + cheesetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,426 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
- Cheese
- Melts into the sauce to give the fondue its rich, creamy body and flavor.
- Egg
- Sets when heated, helping bind the mixture and giving it structure.
- Bread crumbs
- Soak up the liquid and thicken the mixture, adding body.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that melts the cheese into a smooth mixture.
- Butter
- Adds fat for smoothness and richness in the mixture.
The step that matters
Bake until the cheese is melted and the top is slightly browned. Too little heat leaves the mixture unset and greasy, while too much heat can make the egg curdle and the cheese turn oily or tough. Watch for a melted, lightly browned top.
“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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