Name: Macaroni a LA Napolitaine
Ingredients: 4 lb macaroni; 1 pt Spanish sauce; Cold game (cooked, diced); Bread crumbs; Parmesan cheese

Why it works: Bread and parmesan cheese work together. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 577 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Macaroni a LA Napolitaine

Ingredients

Directions

Boil the macaroni according to package instructions.
Cut any remaining cold game into ½ inch dice.
Prepare Spanish sauce as per your favorite recipe.
Grate 1 ounce of Parmesan cheese and mix it with an equal amount of bread crumbs.
Layer the macaroni, sauce, and game in a serving dish, then sprinkle the cheese and bread crumb mixture on top.

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.

Bread + parmesan cheesetop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together577 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Sauce + parmesan cheesetop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,294 recipes

Shared aroma: decanoic acid (soapy, waxy).
Sauce + breadtop 22% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together4,934 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).