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Salad

Macaroni and Cheese Salad

A cold salad of macaroni, cheese, celery, lettuce, and a mustard‑oil‑vinegar dressing.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Mustard and lettuce match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,356 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Macaroni and Cheese Salad

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Boil the macaroni or use any cold macaroni available.

  2. Cut the macaroni into pieces about three inches long.

  3. Slice the cheese into very thin pieces.

  4. Chop the celery into very small pieces.

Assemble and serve

  1. Layer the macaroni, cheese, and celery alternately in a bowl with shredded lettuce.

  2. In a separate bowl, mix the mustard, oil, and vinegar to make a dressing.

  3. Pour the dressing over the salad.

  4. Garnish with a little beetroot and serve.

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. Mustard + lettucetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,356 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Mustard + celerytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,169 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  3. Celery + lettucetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,033 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

  4. Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Cheese + mustardtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,805 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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 salad and gives it a chewy, substantial texture.
Cheese
Adds richness and a savory, salty flavor to the layers.
French mustard
Adds sharp, pungent flavor that balances the richness of the oil and cheese.
Oil
Carries flavor and adds fat, giving the dressing body and a smooth mouthfeel.
Vinegar
Provides acidity that brightens the dressing and cuts through the fat.
Celery
Adds crunch and a fresh, mildly savory note to the layers.

Swap the celery

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cheese, mustard, vinegar, lettuce):

  1. Capersfits better
  2. Tarragonfits better
  3. Dillfits about as well
  4. Celerythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cheese, mustard, vinegar, lettuce. 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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