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Vegetarian Cookery

Baked macaroni mixed with mustard, Parmesan cheese, cayenne, pepper, and salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Payne, A. G. (Arthur Gay), 1840-1894 · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Parmesan cheese and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,322 recipes. Both carry ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓

Vegetarian Cookery

Ingredients

Directions

Make the macaroni

  1. Take half a pound of macaroni and boil it in slightly salted water until tender and it absorbs all the water.

  2. Take a dessertspoonful of raw mustard (yellow powder) and mix it gradually with the macaroni.

  3. Add five or six tablespoonfuls of grated Parmesan cheese and a little cayenne or white pepper according to taste.

Bake and serve

  1. Turn the mixture onto a dish, sprinkle some more grated Parmesan cheese over the top.

  2. Bake it in the oven until it is slightly brown.

  3. Pour a little oiled butter on the top and serve.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

122Calories
10 gProtein
8 gFat
3 gCarbs

Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Parmesan Cheese1 oz (28g)110
Cayenne1 tsp (1.8g)6
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Macaroninot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Payne, A. G. (Arthur Gay), 1840-1894. 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. 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.

  1. Parmesan cheese + peppertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,322 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  2. White pepper + peppertop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,478 recipes

    Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).

  3. Parmesan cheese + white peppertop 29% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together193 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl butyrate (fruity, apple).

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 absorbs the liquid as it cooks until tender.
Grated parmesan cheese
Adds savoury, salty flavour and helps the top brown when baked.
Raw mustard (in the method)
Adds a sharp, pungent flavour that balances the richness of the cheese.

The step that matters

Baking until slightly brown. Baking should stop once the top is only lightly browned. Cheese browns quickly through the Maillard reaction and sugars, so over-baking can turn it bitter and dry out the macaroni.

Swap the white pepper

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

  1. Basilfits better
  2. Celeryfits better
  3. Parsleyfits better
  4. White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against parmesan cheese, pepper. 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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