Why it works: Cheese and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,861 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Fondu Straws
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).
Mix the grated cheese, salt, and cayenne pepper.
Sprinkle the mixture over the puff pastry.
Roll the pastry two or three times to incorporate the mixture.
Shape and bake
Cut the rolled pastry into narrow strips about 5 inches long.
Bake the strips in the preheated oven until golden and serve hot.
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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Cheese + peppertop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,861 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
- Puff pastry
- Its layers of fat and dough puff and separate during baking, giving the straws a flaky texture.
- Grated cheese
- Adds savoury flavour and browns in the oven, contributing to the golden colour.
The step that matters
Roll the pastry two or three times to incorporate the mixture. The seasoning must be evenly distributed through the pastry; rolling presses the cheese and spices into the dough so each straw tastes the same rather than having bare or heavily seasoned spots.
“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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