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Turban of Macaroni and Ham

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

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and butter 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 ↓

Turban of Macaroni and Ham

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

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

  2. Cut the macaroni into small pieces and mix with chopped ham, salt, paprika, beaten eggs, and milk or cream.

  3. Grease moulds with butter and fill them with the mixture.

Bake and serve

  1. Place the moulds in a pan with a little hot water and bake until the mixture feels firm to the touch.

  2. Let cool for a few minutes, then turn out from the moulds.

  3. Serve surrounded by 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. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  2. Ham + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,475 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

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

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

  4. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

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

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Set the custard-like mixture so it holds its shape when turned out.
Milk or thin cream
Provides liquid that sets with the eggs and keeps the texture moist and tender.
Macaroni
Forms the body of the casserole, giving it bulk and a soft, chewy bite.
Ham
Adds savoury, salty flavour throughout the set mixture.

The step that matters

Bake until just firm. Eggs set as they heat, and overbaking makes them tighten and turn rubbery and watery as they release liquid. Stop when the mixture feels firm to the touch so the custard stays tender.

“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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