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 Fritters
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
In a bowl, combine the grated cheese, chopped ham (if using), bread crumbs, dry mustard, butter, cayenne, and beaten egg yolk.
Use a potato masher or pestle to mix until smooth.
Shape and fry
Form the mixture into walnut-sized balls and flatten slightly.
Dip the balls into frying batter and fry until light brown, about 2 minutes.
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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Ham + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,536 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
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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).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Grated cheese
- Melts and provides the rich, savory flavor that defines the fritter.
- Bread crumbs
- Absorb moisture and give the mixture body so it holds its shape.
- Beaten egg yolk
- Binds the mixture together and adds richness to the filling.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a tender interior.
- Dry mustard
- Adds a sharp, pungent flavor that balances the cheese.
The step that matters
Fry until light brown, not dark. Frying the coated balls at too high a heat browns the batter before the cheese inside melts through. Moderate heat and a short fry time give a golden exterior and a fully melted centre.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cheese, ham, bread, egg, butter, pepper):
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Asparagusfits about as well
- Mustardthe original
- Tomatofits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against cheese, ham, bread, egg, 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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