Why it works: Flour and wheat are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,373 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Cheese Balls
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
In a bowl, combine grated cheese, salt, and cayenne pepper.
Fold in the beaten egg whites gently.
Add just enough flour to bind the mixture.
Shape and fry
Form into balls and roll in shredded wheat or cracker crumbs.
Fry in deep fat until golden 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.
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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Flour + wheattop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,373 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Pepper + wheattop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together984 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Cheese + peppertop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,861 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Cheese + wheattop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together199 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Egg and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Grated cheese
- Provides the main flavor and, when melted, the rich body of the balls.
- Egg whites
- Beaten stiff, they trap air and give the mixture a light, puffy structure.
- Flour
- Absorbs moisture and binds the mixture so the balls hold their shape.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Beaten egg whites hold air, and deflating them by stirring vigorously loses the lightness they give. Fold gently so the mixture stays airy.
“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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