Why it works: Butter and milk 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 and Cheese
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Cook the macaroni
Break macaroni into 2-inch pieces and boil in salted water until tender.
Drain in a colander and rinse with cold water to prevent sticking.
Layer and bake
Layer macaroni in a baking dish, adding bits of butter, salt, pepper, and flour.
Add a layer of grated cheese, then another layer of macaroni, flour, and seasoning.
Repeat layers until the dish is full, finishing with cheese on top.
Pour ½ to 1 cup of milk over the top and bake at 350°F (175°C) until the top is brown.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,962 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Cheese + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,426 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Macaroni
- Forms the bulk and structure of the dish, holding the layers together.
- Cheese
- Melts into the dish, adding savoury flavour, richness and a browned top.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, carrying flavour through the layers.
- Flour
- Thickens the milk as it bakes, helping form a creamy sauce rather than a watery one.
- Milk
- Provides the liquid that becomes the sauce and keeps the pasta moist during baking.
The step that matters
Bake until the top is brown. Cheese proteins toughen and squeeze out fat when overheated, and the milk can dry out before the sauce sets. Baking at a moderate heat and checking the dish keeps the sauce creamy.
“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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