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Macaroni and Ham

A baked macaroni dish with ham, cheese, and a creamy sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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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 Ham

Oven, in the book's wordsA steady oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a steady oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the macaroni

  1. Boil the macaroni in salted water until tender, then drain and rinse in cold water.

  2. Cut the drained macaroni into 1-inch lengths.

Make the sauce

  1. In a saucepan, make a roux by stirring the flour smooth in the hot butter over medium heat.

  2. Thin the roux with the scalding milk and add the baking soda to prevent curdling.

  3. Stir in the macaroni, minced ham, dry mustard, and cayenne pepper.

  4. Finally, mix in the beaten egg.

Bake and serve

  1. Pour the mixture into a buttered baking dish.

  2. Sprinkle cracker crumbs and grated cheese on top.

  3. Cover the dish and bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 30 minutes.

  4. Uncover and brown.

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. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  2. Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,962 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,430 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Milk + cheesetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,426 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Mustard + cheesetop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,805 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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 a tender, starchy body.
Flour
Thickens the butter and milk into a smooth roux that binds the casserole.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the sauce, which thickens as it is heated.
Egg
Sets during baking, helping the casserole hold together when cut.
Ham
Adds savory, meaty flavor throughout the casserole.
Baking soda
Helps prevent the milk sauce from curdling when it is combined with the roux.

The step that matters

Thin the roux with the scalding milk. Adding cold milk to a hot roux can make lumps, and the sauce needs the milk hot to thicken smoothly. Adding the baking soda at this point helps prevent curdling.

Swap the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, milk, ham, pepper, egg, cheese):

  1. Potatofits about as well
  2. Asparagusfits about as well
  3. Capsicumfits about as well
  4. Mustardthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, milk, ham, pepper, egg, cheese. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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