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Macaroni, Pate of

A baked macaroni casserole with layers of meat, poultry, and gravy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Veal and truffle work together. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 815 recipes. Both carry 2,4-nonadienal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Macaroni, Pate of

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.

Prepare the macaroni

  1. Boil the macaroni in veal broth until tender, then drain and cut into 2-inch lengths.

Layer and bake

  1. Cover the bottom of a pie dish with a layer of macaroni.

  2. Add a layer of forcemeat or ham-balls, and alternate with layers of poultry, game, sweetbreads, cockscombs, or ox palates.

  3. Pour in an equal quantity of cream and rich gravy to fill the dish.

  4. Top with a crust if desired, then bake at 350°F (175°C) for 30 minutes until hot and browned.

Serve

  1. Serve with Parmesan cheese on the side or mixed in.

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. Veal + truffletop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together815 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

  2. Ham + truffletop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together516 recipes

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

  3. Truffle + parmesan cheesetop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together140 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).

  4. Veal + hamtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,264 recipes

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

  5. Ham + parmesan cheesetop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together144 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).

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 layers and gives the pâté its body when cooked until tender.
Cream
Adds richness and moisture, helping the layers set into a soft, creamy filling.
Rich gravy
Adds savoury depth and moisture that soaks into the macaroni during baking.
Forcemeat or ham-balls
Adds meaty substance and savoury flavour between the macaroni layers.

The step that matters

Pour in the cream and gravy evenly. The liquid must fill the layered dish so the macaroni absorbs it while baking; if the dish is left dry in places, those areas bake tough and uneven.

“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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