Why it works: Rice and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,379 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Pimiento and Cottage-cheese Roast
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).
In a bowl, blend the cooked cereal, salt, cottage cheese, baking soda, bread crumbs, pepper, and chopped pimientos until very stiff.
Form the mixture into a roll.
Bake
Place the roll in a baking dish and bake for about 25 minutes.
Baste with savory fat or meat drippings if necessary.
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.
-
Rice + peppertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,379 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Rice + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,259 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
-
Rice + cottage cheesetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together145 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
-
Cottage cheese + breadtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together72 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
-
Bread + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,964 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cottage cheese
- Adds moisture and a soft, tender crumb to the roll.
- Cooked cereal
- Supplies body and moisture, helping the roll hold together as it bakes.
- Dry bread crumbs
- Absorb moisture and bind the mixture so it keeps its shape.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic cottage cheese to produce gas that lightens the roll.
- Pimientos
- Add sweet flavor and color throughout the roll.
The step that matters
Mix until very stiff before forming the roll. Bread crumbs and cooked cereal absorb liquid, and a mixture that is too wet will slump and spread instead of holding its shape in the oven.
“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.
You might also like
The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.
Rice and Cheese Casserole23 recipes
Cheese Rice12 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Macaroni and Cheese102 recipes