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Macaroni As a Vegetable

A baked macaroni dish with eggs, cream, ham, meat, and cheese.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Cream and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Macaroni As a Vegetable

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Simmer the macaroni in plenty of water until tender but not broken.

  2. Strain off the water.

Make the custard

  1. In a bowl, combine the egg yolks, egg whites, cream, chopped white meat, chopped ham, grated cheese, salt, and pepper.

  2. Heat the mixture over low heat, stirring constantly until warmed through.

  3. Mix the heated mixture with the macaroni.

Steam and serve

  1. Transfer to a buttered mold and steam for one hour.

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. Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Cheese + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,962 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Meat + hamtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,095 recipes

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

  4. Cream + cheesetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,655 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Ham + cheesetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together303 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Yolks and whites set the mixture into a firm, sliceable custard around the macaroni.
Cream
Adds moisture and richness, keeping the custard soft and tender as it sets.
Macaroni
Forms the body of the casserole, giving it bite and structure once combined with the custard.
Grated cheese
Adds savoury flavour and helps bind the custard, with melted fat adding richness.
Ham
Contributes salty, savoury flavour and a meaty texture throughout the casserole.

The step that matters

Heating the egg mixture over low heat. Eggs set at around 70 to 80 °C and curdle if overheated. Low heat with constant stirring warms the mixture gently so it stays smooth before it is combined with the macaroni.

“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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