Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Macaroni with Cheese
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Cook the macaroni
Cook macaroni in boiling salted water for 20 minutes.
Drain and rinse with cold water.
Make the sauce
Melt butter, then stir in flour.
Gradually add hot milk.
Season with salt.
Assemble and bake
In a baking dish, layer grated cheese, macaroni, and sauce until full.
Top with bread crumbs and dots of butter.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) until brown.
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.
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Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Cheese + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,130 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,962 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Milk + cheesetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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 of the dish and gives it a firm, chewy bite.
- Butter
- Enriches the sauce and adds richness, and browns the crumb topping.
- Flour
- Thickens the butter and milk into a smooth white sauce.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the sauce, giving it creaminess.
- Grated cheese
- Melts into the sauce to add savoury flavour and a stretchy, creamy texture.
The step that matters
Gradually add hot milk to the butter and flour. Adding the milk slowly while stirring lets the starch in the flour hydrate evenly, so the sauce thickens smooth instead of forming lumps.
“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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