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Hominy and Cheese

A cheese sauce is poured over hominy and toasted until the top browns.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and mustard are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,430 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Hominy and Cheese

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Prepare the hominy as previously described.

Make the cheese sauce

  1. In a small pan, combine the grated cheese and milk.

  2. Stir over medium heat until nearly boiling and the cheese is fully dissolved.

  3. Add pepper, salt, and a little mustard, then mix well.

Assemble and serve

  1. Pour the mixture over the hominy and stir to combine.

  2. Transfer to a shallow dish and toast in front of the fire until the top is browned.

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. Pepper + mustardtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,430 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Cheese + milktop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,426 recipes

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

  3. Cheese + mustardtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,805 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Cheese + peppertop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,861 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Milk + peppertop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together26,984 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Hominy
Forms the bulk of the dish and gives a soft, starchy base for the cheese.
Good cheese
Melts into the milk to form a rich, creamy sauce that carries the dish.
Milk
Melts with the cheese to make a smooth, pourable sauce.
Mustard
Adds a sharp note that balances the richness of the cheese.

The step that matters

Stir over medium heat until nearly boiling. Cheese proteins toughen and separate if overheated, so heat gently and stir until the cheese just dissolves into a smooth sauce.

Swap the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cheese, milk, pepper):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Potatofits better
  3. Tomatofits better
  4. Mustardthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cheese, milk, 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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