Why it works: Cheese and butter 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 ↓
Fried Ramakins
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Melt the butter and let it cool slightly.
Mix the melted butter with the grated cheese and beaten egg whites.
Assemble and cook
Lay buttered paper on a frying pan and place slices of bread on top.
Spread the cheese mixture over the bread.
Cook on the fire for about 5 minutes, then brown with a salamander.
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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Cheese + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,962 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Cheese + eggtop 28% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,253 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cheese
- Provides the main flavor and melts into a rich, savory topping.
- Butter
- Adds richness and moisture, helping the topping stay tender and spreadable.
- Eggs
- Egg whites bind the cheese mixture and help it set as it cooks.
The step that matters
Browning with a salamander. The cheese topping needs enough heat to brown without drying out. Browning relies on the Maillard reaction, which gives flavor and color at high surface temperatures, so watch closely to avoid scorching.
“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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