Name: Macaroni, As a Vegetable
Ingredients: ½ pound macaroni; 5 egg yolks; 2 egg whites; ½ pint cream; white meat (chopped very fine); ham (chopped very fine); 3 tablespoons grated cheese; salt; pepper

Why it works: Meat and ham are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,095 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓

Macaroni, As a Vegetable

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the macaroni

Simmer the macaroni in plenty of water until tender but not broken; strain off the water.

Make the filling

In a bowl, combine the egg yolks, egg whites, cream, chopped white meat, chopped ham, grated cheese, salt, and pepper.
Heat the mixture over low heat, stirring constantly until warmed through.
Mix the heated mixture with the macaroni.

Cook and serve

Transfer to a buttered mold and steam for 1 hour, or bake in the oven.

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.

Meat + hamtop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,095 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Cream + cheesetop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,655 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Ham + cheesetop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together303 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
Egg + hamtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,526 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Meat + cheesetop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together564 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Macaroni: Forms the bulk and body of the casserole, holding the custard together when set.
Egg yolks: Add richness and help the mixture set into a firm, sliceable texture.
Egg whites: Add structure and lightness, setting with heat to firm the casserole.
Cream: Adds moisture and fat, giving a softer, creamier texture after cooking.
Grated cheese: Adds savoury flavour and fat, and helps bind the custard.

The step that matters

Heating the egg mixture over low heat. Eggs thicken with gentle heat but curdle if overheated. Stirring constantly over low heat keeps the custard smooth and prevents scrambled bits before it is mixed with the macaroni.

“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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Macaroni, As a Vegetable