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From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Parmesan cheese and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,322 recipes. Both carry ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓

Dinner Menus

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Cook the mixture gently on the stove for 10 minutes, then remove it.

  2. Beat the eggs well and add them to the mixture along with the grated Parmesan and cayenne pepper.

  3. Beat the mixture for 10 minutes with a wooden spoon.

  4. Fill a stewpan three-quarters full with boiling lard or clarified fat.

  5. Transfer the mixture into a piping bag with a plain tip.

  6. Pipe out pieces the size of marbles into the boiling fat, avoiding overcrowding.

  7. Adjust the heat to prevent them from cooking too quickly; they should take 5 to 7 minutes to cook.

  8. Remove them with a slotted spoon or frying basket and drain on paper.

  9. Roll them in grated Parmesan cheese and serve piled on a dish, sprinkled with more cheese and coralline pepper.

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. Parmesan cheese + peppertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,322 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  2. Egg + parmesan cheesetop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,368 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  3. Egg + peppertop 33% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together50,580 recipes

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

Egg and pepper 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

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