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 ↓
Macaroni with Cheese
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the macaroni
In a pot, combine the milk, water, and salt; bring to a boil.
Add the macaroni and cook until tender, then drain.
Layer and brown
In a deep dish, layer the macaroni with some grated cheese and small pieces of butter.
Finish with a layer of cheese and cover with bread crumbs.
Pour the remaining butter over the crumbs.
Brown the top under a broiler or in front of a fire, turning until nicely browned.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Butter + breadtop 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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Cheese + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,130 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Cheese + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,962 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Cheese + milktop 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
- Macaroni
- Forms the bulk of the dish and gives it its chewy, tender body.
- Cheese
- Melts into the dish to provide richness, creaminess and savory flavor.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, carrying flavor and helping the top brown.
- Milk
- Provides liquid and dairy richness for the cooking water base.
- Bread crumbs
- Forms a crisp topping that browns under heat for contrast in texture.
The step that matters
Brown the top under a broiler or in front of a fire, turning until nicely browned.. Browning depends on direct high heat and close attention, since the crumbs and cheese can scorch quickly once they darken. Pulling the dish out at the right color keeps the topping crisp and golden rather than burnt.
“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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