Why it works: Bread and cheese are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,130 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Scolloped Cheese
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Cut off the brown crust from the bread.
Layer the buttered bread in a buttered baking dish.
Sprinkle the grated cheese, salt, and pepper over the bread.
Bake
Mix the beaten eggs with the milk and pour it over the bread and cheese.
Bake in a hot oven (400°F / 200°C) until set, like a bread pudding.
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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Bread + cheesetop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,130 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Cheese + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,426 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Bread + milktop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,466 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
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Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Bread + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,964 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Set the custard so the pudding firms up and holds its shape when baked.
- Milk
- Forms the custard with the eggs, soaking into the bread to keep it moist.
- Bread
- Forms the base layer that soaks up the custard and gives the pudding its body.
- Cheese
- Melts into the custard and adds rich, savoury flavour and fat.
The step that matters
Bake until set. Eggs set as they heat; if the pudding is pulled too early the custard stays loose, and if it bakes too long the eggs over-coagulate and turn grainy 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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