Why it works: Butter and bread 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 Fondu
Ingredients
Directions
Make the mixture
Dissolve the cheese in a bowl.
Beat the eggs together.
Add the beaten eggs to the cheese mixture, stirring well.
Bake in the dish
Grease a shallow metal or earthenware dish with butter.
Heat the dish until the butter sizzles.
Pour the mixture into the dish.
Bake or fry until nearly solidified.
Add bread crumbs to the mixture.
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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Butter + breadtop 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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Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Set as they heat, giving the fondue its firm, sliceable structure.
- Cheese
- Melts into the mixture, adding richness, savory flavor and a creamy texture.
- Butter
- Greases the dish to prevent sticking and adds richness and browning at the edges.
The step that matters
Bake or fry until nearly solidified. The egg proteins set as they heat. Stopping when the mixture is nearly set lets residual heat finish it, while overcooking makes the eggs tight, rubbery and dry.
“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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