Name: Cheese Fondu
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons butter; 2 tablespoons bread or cracker crumbs; ½ pound cheese, cut fine; 1 pint sweet milk; 3 eggs; ¼ teaspoon salt

Why it works: Butter and bread 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 ↓

Cheese Fondu

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a quick oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the base

In a bowl, mix cheese and butter with the crumbs.
Pour boiling milk over the mixture.

Add eggs and bake

Add yolks of eggs, beaten with salt, and keep warm until dissolved.
Fold in beaten egg whites and stir well.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 20 minutes, being careful not to overcook.

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.

Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,232 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Bread + cheesetop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,130 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,962 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Cheese + milktop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked 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

Cheese: Melts into the base to provide the main flavor and rich, stretchy body.
Milk: Supplies the liquid that melts the cheese and gives a smooth, creamy texture.
Eggs: Yolks thicken and set the mixture, while whipped whites add lightness and rise.
Butter: Adds fat for richness and a smoother, more tender texture.
Bread or cracker crumbs: Absorb some liquid and help give the mixture body and structure.

The step that matters

Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 20 minutes, being careful not to overcook.. Egg proteins set as they heat, and overbaking tightens them further, making the mixture grainy, rubbery, and prone to weeping liquid. Folded egg whites also deflate if left in the oven too long, so remove it once just 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.