Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
To Pot Cheese
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Cut and pound the Cheshire cheese until smooth.
Mix in the butter, black pepper, salt, and cream until well combined.
Pot and store
Pack the mixture into a small pot or container.
Cover the top with a layer of butter to seal.
Store in the refrigerator until ready to use.
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 + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (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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Cheese + creamtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,655 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Cheese + peppertop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,861 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cheshire cheese
- Provides the main body and rich, savory flavor of the spread.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a smooth, spreadable texture and helps seal the top.
- Cream
- Adds moisture so the mixture blends into a softer, smoother paste.
The step that matters
Pound the cheese until smooth. Cheese that stays in lumps will not blend evenly with the butter and cream, leaving a grainy texture. Cutting it small and pounding it breaks up the curd so the fat and liquid can disperse through it.
“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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