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 Straws
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the dough
Cream the butter in a bowl.
Add flour, bread crumbs, cheese, and seasonings; mix thoroughly.
Stir in the milk until combined.
Shape and bake
Roll the mixture to ¼ inch thick and cut into strips 4 inches wide and 5 inches long.
Shape one strip into a ring to hold the straws in place when serving.
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until 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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Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Bread + cheesetop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,130 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,962 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Cheese + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,426 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Adds fat that enriches the dough and helps it brown and taste rich.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the straws together after baking.
- Cheese
- Adds savory flavour and fat, and browns during baking.
- Milk
- Moistens the flour so the dough comes together and can be rolled.
- Fresh bread crumbs
- Add tenderness and absorb moisture, giving the dough a lighter texture.
The step that matters
Roll the mixture to an even ¼ inch thickness. Uniform thickness lets the straws bake at the same rate, so thin pieces do not burn while thick ones stay doughy.
“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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