Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Cheese Toast
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the topping
In a bowl, mix the egg yolk, grated cheese, bread crumbs, butter, mustard, salt, and cayenne until well combined.
Assemble and bake
Cut the slices of bread into circles and toast them until golden brown.
Spread the cheese mixture thickly on each toasted bread circle.
Place the topped bread in a 400°F (200°C) oven to heat through and brown lightly.
Serve
Serve immediately.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Cheese + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,130 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (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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Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,430 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Cheese + mustardtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,805 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolk
- Binds the cheese mixture and adds richness so it holds together on the toast.
- Grated cheese
- Melts and browns in the oven, providing the main flavor and savory crust.
- Bread crumbs
- Absorb fat and moisture, giving the topping body so it stays thick rather than running.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and helps the topping brown lightly in the oven.
- Prepared mustard
- Adds sharp, tangy flavor that balances the richness of the cheese and egg.
The step that matters
Place the topped bread in a 400°F (200°C) oven to heat through and brown lightly.. The cheese mixture is thick and can burn on top before the center heats through. Watching color closely lets the cheese melt and brown evenly.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, cheese, bread, butter, pepper):
- Capsicumfits better
- Asparagusfits about as well
- Potatofits about as well
- Mustardthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, cheese, bread, butter, pepper. 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.
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