Name: Cheese Fingers
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon butter; 1 teaspoon baking powder; 1 cup flour; ¾ cup water; 1 cup grated cheese; a pinch of cayenne pepper; ¼ teaspoon salt

Why it works: Butter and cheese are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,962 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Cheese Fingers

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the dough

Chop the butter into the flour until it resembles fine meal.
Stir in the baking powder, grated cheese, cayenne pepper, and salt.
Add enough water to mix to a biscuit-like consistency.

Shape and bake

Roll the dough thin and cut it into strips.
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 10 to 15 minutes until light 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.

Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,962 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Cheese + peppertop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,861 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Flour + peppertop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together50,459 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together85,593 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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

Flour: Forms the structure of the dough that holds the fingers together.
Butter: Coats flour particles, giving the dough a tender, crumbly texture.
Baking powder: Releases gas in the oven so the fingers rise and stay light.
Grated cheese: Adds fat and flavor, and browns during baking.
Water: Hydrates the flour so the dough binds into a workable biscuit-like dough.