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Macaroni and Cheese

A baked macaroni dish with cheese, milk, and optional cracker crumbs.

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

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 and Cheese

Oven, in the book's wordsA slow oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a slow oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Cook the macaroni

  1. Cook the macaroni in salted water until tender.

  2. Drain the macaroni.

  3. Rinse the macaroni until clean.

Assemble and bake

  1. Grease a baking pan with butter.

  2. Layer the macaroni and grated cheese alternately in the pan.

  3. Dot the top with butter.

  4. Pour enough milk over the layers until just visible.

  5. Sprinkle cracker crumbs on top if desired.

  6. Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven until browned.

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. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

  2. Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,962 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Cheese + milktop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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 and structure of the dish, holding its shape as it bakes.
Grated cheese
Melts into the layers, adding richness, flavour and a savory binding texture.
Milk
Provides liquid that softens the pasta and forms a creamy sauce as it bakes.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and helps the top brown in the oven.

The step that matters

Pour enough milk over the layers until just visible. Too little milk leaves the pasta dry and firm, while too much floods the dish and makes it soupy. Milk should reach just to the top layer so the pasta absorbs liquid and the sauce sets creamy as it bakes.

“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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