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Cheese Boullettes

Cheese boulette is a fried cheese ball coated in cracker crumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Cheese and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,861 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Cheese Boullettes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. In a bowl, combine grated cheese, salt, and cayenne pepper.

  2. Fold in the beaten egg whites until well mixed.

  3. Shape the mixture into small balls.

  4. Roll the balls in cracker crumbs to coat.

Fry

  1. Heat oil in a deep pan over high heat.

  2. Fry the cheese balls until golden brown.

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.

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

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

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

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

  3. Pepper + eggtop 33% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together50,580 recipes

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

Pepper and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 50,580 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

Grated cheese
Provides the main flavour and fat, and helps the balls set as they cook.
Egg whites
Beaten stiff, they add air and lightness so the cheese mixture holds its shape.
Cracker crumbs
Form a crisp, browned coating that protects the balls in hot oil.

The step that matters

Frying the cheese balls. Oil that is not hot enough lets the coating soak up grease and the balls fall apart, while oil that is too hot can brown the crumbs before the cheese inside softens. Keeping the oil steadily hot helps the coating crisp quickly and the centre heat through.

“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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