Why it works: Tomato and parmesan cheese are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,490 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Macaroni or Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare and cook the pasta
Break the macaroni into 1-inch lengths or the spaghetti into 3-inch lengths.
Place the pasta in a pot of boiling water and cook until soft, about 45 minutes, stirring often to prevent sticking.
Drain the pasta in a sieve and transfer to a serving dish.
Serve
Cover the pasta with tomato sauce and serve with grated Parmesan cheese.
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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Tomato + parmesan cheesetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,490 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Tomato + saucetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,469 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Sauce + parmesan cheesetop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,294 recipes
Shared aroma: decanoic acid (soapy, waxy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Macaroni or spaghetti
- Forms the bulk of the dish and gives it its body and chew once cooked until soft.
- Tomato sauce
- Adds moisture and acidity that coat the cooked pasta and carry its flavour.
- Grated parmesan cheese
- Adds salty, savoury flavour to the finished dish as a topping.
The step that matters
Stirring the pasta while it cooks. Pasta strands can stick together and to the pot as their starch surface softens in boiling water. Stirring often keeps the pieces separate so they cook evenly.
“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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