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Cheese Balls

Fried cheese balls made from beaten egg whites and grated cheese, seasoned with cayenne pepper and salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Cheese Balls

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 ↓

Cheese Balls

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

  1. Beat the egg whites until stiff.

  2. Fold in enough grated cheese to form a stiff batter.

  3. Add cayenne pepper and salt, mixing well.

Fry and serve

  1. Mold the mixture into small balls.

  2. Drop the balls into hot oil and fry until light brown.

  3. Serve immediately with salad.

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.

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.

  1. Cheese + peppertop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,861 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Egg + cheesetop 28% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,253 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Egg + peppertop 33% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together50,580 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Egg and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 50,580 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

Egg whites
Whipped to stiffness, they give the batter lightness and structure to hold its shape.
Grated cheese
Binds the batter and adds rich flavor, and it browns in the hot oil.
Cayenne pepper
Adds a mild heat that contrasts with the rich cheese.

The step that matters

Drop the balls into hot oil and fry until light brown. If the oil is not hot enough, the balls absorb more oil and turn greasy, and the outside may not set before the inside cooks. Hot oil seals the surface quickly so the balls stay crisp and hold their shape.

“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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