Why it works: Cream and parmesan cheese are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,566 recipes. Both carry gamma-decalactone, which smells peach, creamy. The science ↓
Fondu
Ingredients
Directions
Make the fondue
Warm the cream and Parmesan cheese together in an earthenware basin.
Stir in the egg yolks one by one until the mixture is smooth.
Place the basin in a bain-marie and steam slowly for 30 minutes.
If you don't have a silver case, wrap a napkin around the basin to disguise its form.
Optional finish
Optionally, let the fondu cool, cut into disks, dip in breadcrumbs and eggs, and fry until golden brown.
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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Cream + parmesan cheesetop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,566 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).
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Parmesan cheese + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,368 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Cream + eggtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together42,166 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Cream and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 42,166 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
- Cream
- Provides fat and moisture, giving the fondue a smooth, rich body.
- Parmesan cheese
- Supplies the main cheese flavour and, as it melts, the structure that thickens the custard.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the mixture as they set gently, giving a creamy, custard-like texture.
The step that matters
Steaming slowly in the bain-marie. Egg yolks set at low, even heat. If the heat is too high or uneven, the proteins tighten and the mixture can curdle or turn grainy instead of smooth.
“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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