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Macaroni Dariole

A steamed macaroni custard served cold, topped with grated Parmesan and watercress.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 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 ↓

Macaroni Dariole

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Butter six dariole moulds.

Make the mixture

  1. In a bowl, whisk together the milk and eggs until well combined.

  2. Stir in the cooked macaroni, tomato conserve, and cheese.

  3. Season with salt and pepper.

  4. Pour the mixture gently into the dariole moulds, filling them three-quarters full.

Steam and serve

  1. Steam the moulds until set.

  2. Serve cold, dusted with grated Parmesan and garnished with watercress.

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. Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

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

  3. Gruyere cheese + buttertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together323 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).

  4. Milk + gruyere cheesetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together130 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  5. Milk + tomatotop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,226 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Set the custard and bind the macaroni into a firm, sliceable mould.
Milk
Provides liquid that the egg proteins set into a tender, creamy custard.
Cooked macaroni
Gives the moulds body and a substantial, chewy bite.
Tomato conserve
Adds acidity and concentrated tomato flavour to the custard.
Cheese
Adds savoury, salty depth and richness to the custard.

The step that matters

Steam the moulds until set. Egg proteins set gently at moderate heat; too much heat or steam overcooks them, making the custard grainy, weeping, or rubbery. Pull them as soon as they are firm to the touch.

Swap the tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, egg, gruyere cheese, pepper, butter):

  1. Potatofits better
  2. Capsicumfits better
  3. Asparagusfits about as well
  4. Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, egg, gruyere cheese, pepper, butter. 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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