Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Chheese Scallop
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Season the bread crumbs with melted butter, pepper, and salt.
Assemble
In a bowl, combine 1 cup of seasoned crumbs, milk, beaten eggs, and grated cheese.
Pour the mixture into a baking dish.
Cover with the reserved crumbs and sprinkle a little grated cheese on top.
Bake
Bake 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.
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 + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Bread + cheesetop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,130 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,962 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Milk + cheesetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,426 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Bind the milk and cheese into a custard that sets when baked.
- Milk
- Provides the liquid that the eggs set into a soft, creamy custard.
- Grated cheese
- Adds rich flavour and fat, and melts into the custard.
- Bread crumbs
- Soak up the custard and form a light, structured base and crisp top.
- Melted butter
- Adds fat and flavour and helps the crumbs brown.
The step that matters
Bake until golden brown. Eggs set as they heat, so the custard firms through only when baked long enough. Underbaking leaves it loose in the centre, while overbaking can make it dry and rubbery. Watch for a golden top and a centre that is set.
“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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