Skip to main content
Main

Turban of Macaroni and Ham

A baked macaroni and ham casserole with eggs, milk, and paprika.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Ham and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,526 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Turban of Macaroni and Ham

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Boil macaroni in salted water until tender, then drain and rinse in cold water.

Make the custard

  1. Cut macaroni into small pieces and mix with ham, salt, paprika, eggs, and milk or cream.

Bake and serve

  1. Pour mixture into buttered molds and bake in a pan with hot water until firm to the touch.

  2. Let cool for a few minutes, then turn out from molds and serve with tomato or white sauce.

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.

  1. Ham + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,526 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Egg + milktop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

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

  3. Ham + milktop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,089 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Set the mixture into a firm, sliceable custard when baked.
Milk or cream
Provides moisture and creates a tender, custard-like texture with the eggs.
Macaroni
Forms the body of the casserole and gives it a soft, substantial bite.
Ham
Adds savory, salty flavor throughout the dish.

The step that matters

Bake in a water bath until firm to the touch. Eggs set through gentle, even heat. Baking in a pan of hot water keeps the edges from overcooking and turning rubbery or curdled before the centre sets.

“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

Tomato SoupTomato Soup526 recipesBrown BreadBrown Bread461 recipesMutton BrothMutton Broth292 recipesYorkshire PuddingYorkshire Pudding264 recipes