Why it works: Parmesan cheese and tomato match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 2,490 recipes mention both. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: milk, fish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Also mentioned in the method: fish
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the fish and sauce
Prepare the broth as recommended for sea-bream.
Place the gurnard fillets under a weight in the broth and cook.
Strain the sauce when finished.
Assemble the dish
Butter a fireproof gratin dish and arrange a layer of macaroni, then dust grated Parmesan over the macaroni layer.
Lay the cooked fish fillets over the macaroni and dust with more Parmesan.
Cover with another layer of macaroni and dust again.
Pour enough sauce to moisten the layers well.
Sprinkle a thick layer of cheese on top and dot with small bits of butter.
Bake and serve
Bake in the oven at 400°F (200°C) until hot and nicely colored, then serve.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Parmesan cheese + tomatotop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,490 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Parmesan cheese + buttertop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together4,158 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Butter + tomatotop 11% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together6,890 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Gurnard
- Forms the main flesh of the dish, cooked gently in the broth until tender.
- Macaroni
- Forms the layers that hold the fish and sauce together in the dish.
- Parmesan cheese
- Adds savoury flavour and browns on top to form a golden crust.
- Butter
- Adds richness and helps the top brown while enriching the dish.
The step that matters
Bake until hot and nicely colored. Baking must heat the layers through without drying them out. The sauce keeps the macaroni and fish moist, and the cheese and butter on top brown through the Maillard reaction and milk-protein browning.
Flavor stand-ins for the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (parmesan cheese, butter):
- Asparagusabout as good a flavor fit
- Tomatothe original
- Potatoabout as good a flavor fit
Fit is the average pairing score against parmesan cheese, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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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