Why it works: Cheddar cheese and parmesan cheese match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 592 recipes. Both carry ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓
Cheese Straws
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the pastry
In a bowl, combine the grated Cheddar cheese, flour, grated Parmesan cheese, salt, cayenne pepper, and butter. Rub them together until well mixed.
Add the egg yolk and lemon juice, mixing until you form a stiff paste.
Roll the pastry out to 5 inches wide and 1/8 inch thick.
Cut and bake
Dip a sharp knife in flour and cut the paste into strips that are 1/4 inch wide.
Carefully lift the strips onto a greased baking sheet.
Bake in a slow oven at 300°F (150°C) for 5 to 10 minutes until pale brown.
Let the straws cool on the baking sheet before lifting them off.
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.
-
Cheddar cheese + parmesan cheesetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together592 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
-
Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Cheddar cheese + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,436 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Parmesan cheese + buttertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,163 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
What each ingredient does
- Cheddar cheese
- Adds savory flavor and fat that helps the dough bind and turn golden.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the structure that holds the paste together when rolled and cut.
- Parmesan cheese
- Adds a sharp, salty flavor and fat that helps the straws brown lightly.
- Butter
- Adds fat that makes the pastry short and tender when rubbed into the flour.
- Egg yolk
- Adds richness and fat that binds the dough into a stiff, workable paste.
The step that matters
Cut the paste into strips. Dipping the knife in flour keeps the sticky, fat-rich paste from dragging and tearing, so the strips keep clean edges and an even width for even baking.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cheddar cheese, flour, parmesan cheese, pepper, butter, egg):
- Plumfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
- Figfits about as well
- Avocadofits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against cheddar cheese, flour, parmesan cheese, pepper, butter, egg. 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.
More cheese straws recipes
You might also like
Lemon Pie37 recipes
Lemon Cake228 recipes
Lemon Ice147 recipes
Lemon Sherbet103 recipesThe 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.