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 ↓
Another Welsh or Cheese- And- Onion Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Parboil, skin, and chop the onions.
Place the onions in a small baking dish.
Season and top
Season with pepper, coarse sea salt, and plenty of butter.
Cover with slices of toasted Cheshire or Dunlop cheese.
Serve
Serve very hot with toasts.
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 pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,962 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Onion + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together42,912 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Onion + cheesetop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,849 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Pepper + cheesetop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,861 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
- Onions
- Provide the sweet, soft body of the dish once parboiled and cooked.
- Butter
- Adds richness and moisture, carrying flavour across the onions.
- Cheshire or dunlop cheese
- Melts and browns on top, adding savoury flavour and a golden crust.
The step that matters
Covering with toasted cheese. Toasting the cheese before it goes on the onions helps it melt and brown evenly, rather than staying rubbery or greasy, while the hot onions keep the dish warm enough to serve very hot.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, butter, cheese):
- Capsicumfits better
- Potatofits better
- Mustardfits about as well
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, butter, cheese. 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.
You might also like
The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.
Macaroni and Cheese102 recipes
Cheese Making50 recipes
Cheese Fritters34 recipes
Cheese Omelette31 recipes