Name: Daily Bread Souffle of Ham, Macaroni and Cheese
Ingredients: ¾ cup macaroni, broken into 1-inch lengths; salt, to taste; 1 cup cold boiled ham, finely chopped; grated Parmesan cheese, for layering; butter, for layering; 2 eggs; 1 cup milk

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 ↓

Daily Bread Souffle of Ham, Macaroni and Cheese

Oven, in the book's wordsA slow oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

Cook the macaroni in rapidly boiling salted water until tender, then drain and rinse in cold water.

Layer

Butter a baking dish and layer the macaroni with the chopped ham, sprinkling each layer with grated Parmesan cheese and bits of butter.
Beat the eggs and mix with the milk, then pour over the macaroni and ham.

Bake

Bake in a slow oven at 300°F (150°C) until a custard forms.

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.

Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Parmesan cheese + buttertop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,163 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Parmesan cheese + milktop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,608 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Ham + buttertop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,475 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
Ham + eggtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,526 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

What each ingredient does

Macaroni: Forms the bulk of the casserole and gives it body between the custard layers.
Eggs: Set with the milk into a custard that binds the casserole together.
Milk: Combines with the eggs to form the liquid custard that sets during baking.
Cold boiled ham: Adds savory, meaty flavor and chewiness throughout the layers.
Parmesan cheese: Adds salty, savory flavor and browning to the layers.

The step that matters

Bake until a custard forms. Eggs thicken as they heat, but overbaking at too high a heat can make them curdle and turn watery. A slow oven lets the custard set evenly and gently.

“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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Daily Bread Souffle of Ham, Macaroni and Cheese