Why it works: Milk and parmesan cheese are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,608 recipes. Both carry ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓
Souffle of Ham
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Cook macaroni, broken into 1‑inch lengths, in rapidly boiling salted water until tender; drain and rinse in cold water.
Layer and bake
Butter a baking dish and layer the macaroni and chopped ham alternately.
Sprinkle each layer with grated Parmesan cheese.
Beat the eggs and add the milk, then pour the mixture over the layered ingredients.
Bake until a custard forms.
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.
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Milk + parmesan cheesetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,608 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
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Egg + hamtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,526 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Ham + parmesan cheesetop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together144 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).
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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + parmesan cheesetop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,368 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Set into a custard that binds the layers together and gives the dish its soft structure.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard, adding moisture and softness as the eggs set.
- Macaroni
- Provides the starchy body of the dish, absorbing custard and holding its shape once cooked.
- Boiled ham
- Adds savoury flavour and salt-cured richness throughout the layers.
- Parmesan cheese
- Adds savoury, salty flavour and some browning as it melts and toasts on top.
The step that matters
Bake until a custard forms. Egg proteins set with heat, but overbaking makes them tight and grainy and can curdle the milk, so the custard should be removed once just set.
“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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