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Macaroni and Cheese

A preserved dish of macaroni and cheese sealed in cans with a tomato‑based liquid.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Macaroni and Cheese

Why it works: Cheese and tomato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,896 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the macaroni

  1. Cut the macaroni into 1‑inch lengths using a rhubarb cutter.

  2. Blanch the macaroni in boiling water for 10 minutes, then drain.

  3. Mix the drained macaroni with the grated cheese.

Fill and process

  1. Fill the cans with the macaroni mixture.

  2. Cover the cans with a liquid made from salt, pepper, tomato pulp, and water.

  3. Exhaust the cans for 3 minutes.

  4. Process No. 1 cans for 45 minutes at 230 °F (110 °C) and No. 2 cans for 60 minutes at 230 °F (110 °C).

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.

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.

  1. Cheese + tomatotop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,896 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. White pepper + tomatotop 29% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together226 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl butyrate (fruity, apple).

  3. Cheese + white peppertop 29% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together233 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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 the canned product its body and chew.
Cheese
Adds richness and flavour, and melts into the sauce during processing.
Clear tomato pulp
Provides the liquid base of the sauce and moisture throughout the cans.

Swap the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cheese, tomato):

  1. Oreganofits better
  2. Basilfits better
  3. Corianderfits better
  4. White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cheese, tomato. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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