Name: Deviled Cheese
Ingredients: 1 to 2 cups grated cheese; 2 tablespoons olive oil or 1 tablespoon fine butter; 2 tablespoons vinegar; 1 tablespoon dry mustard; 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce; Salt and pepper to taste

Why it works: Vinegar and mustard are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,067 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Deviled Cheese

Ingredients

1 to 2 cups grated cheese
2 tablespoons olive oil or 1 tablespoon fine butter
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 tablespoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

In a bowl, combine the grated cheese, olive oil (or butter), vinegar, dry mustard, and Worcestershire sauce, and mix well until all ingredients are thoroughly combined.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serve as a spread or dip.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,067 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Olive + mustardtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,950 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,430 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Olive + vinegartop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,297 recipes

Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
Cheese + mustardtop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,805 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: Provides the main body, rich flavor, and creamy texture of the spread.
Olive oil or butter: Adds fat that smooths the mixture and carries flavor.
Vinegar: Adds sharpness that brightens the rich cheese.
Dry mustard: Adds pungent, sharp flavor that deepens the cheese taste.
Worcestershire sauce: Adds savory depth and tanginess to the cheese.

Swap the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cheese, olive, vinegar, sauce, pepper):

Capsicumfits about as well
Mustardthe original
Tomatofits about as well
Cucumberfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against cheese, olive, vinegar, sauce, 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.