Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Macaroni Au Gratin
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the macaroni
Take one-half pound of pipe macaroni, seven ounces of cheese, four ounces of butter, one pint of fresh milk, one quart of water, and some bread crumbs.
Flavor the milk and water with a pinch of nutmeg and salt.
Set the mixture over the fire and when boiling drop in the macaroni.
When tender, drain the macaroni from the milk and water.
Bake and serve
Put the drained macaroni into a deep dish.
Sprinkle some of the grated cheese on top.
Pour the remainder of the cheese over it and bake until a nice brown.
Serve.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 5 of 7 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Cheese | 1 oz (28g) cheddar | 113 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Nutmeg | 1 tsp ground (2.2g) | 12 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Macaroni | not in our table | 0 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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. See the original page.
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 + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Cheese + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,962 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Cheese + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,426 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Milk + nutmegtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,685 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Butter + nutmegtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together24,377 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
- Pipe macaroni
- Forms the body of the dish, absorbing the milk and water as the base of the gratin.
- Cheese
- Melts into the dish and browns on top, adding richness and savory flavor.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and helps the top brown in the oven.
- Fresh milk
- Provides moisture and creaminess as the macaroni cooks and softens.
The step that matters
Bake until a nice brown. The top must brown without drying the dish. Browning comes from heat reacting with the cheese and milk proteins and sugars at the surface, so watch the color rather than only the clock.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cheese, butter, milk):
- Cinnamonfits about as well
- Nutmegthe original
- Thymefits about as well
- Pepperfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against cheese, butter, milk. 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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