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Savoury Olive and Cheese

A steamed custard in small molds, filled with olives and topped with a bit of custard.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Parmesan cheese and olive are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,233 recipes. Both carry ethyl isobutyrate, which smells fruity, ethereal. The science ↓

Savoury Olive and Cheese

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Beat the eggs in a bowl.

  2. Add the milk, cream, Parmesan cheese, and season with salt.

  3. Pour the mixture into small buttered molds and steam until set.

Fill and serve

  1. Let the molds cool, then make a hollow in the center of each.

  2. Slip an olive into each hollow and cover with a bit of the custard you scooped out.

  3. Turn out the molds and arrange them in a circle.

  4. Garnish with small salad.

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 + olivetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,233 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).

  2. Milk + parmesan cheesetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,608 recipes

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

  3. Milk + olivetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,828 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

  4. Cream + parmesan cheesetop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,566 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).

  5. Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together29,399 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Set the custard into a firm but tender structure when heated.
Milk
Provides the liquid base that the eggs set into a soft custard.
Cream
Adds richness and a smoother, silkier texture to the custard.
Parmesan cheese
Adds savory, salty flavor and a little extra body to the custard.

The step that matters

Steam until just set. Egg proteins coagulate as they heat, so steaming gently until just set keeps the custard smooth and tender. Overheating makes it grainy, spongy, or watery as the proteins squeeze out liquid.

“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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