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Macaroni with Cod

A baked macaroni dish with cod, butter, cheese, milk, and bread crumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Macaroni with Cod

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

  1. Break the macaroni into short pieces.

  2. Boil in salted water for 20 minutes.

  3. Drain the macaroni.

Combine

  1. Stir in the butter and grated cheese.

  2. Mix in the chopped cod.

Bake and brown

  1. Transfer to a buttered baking dish.

  2. Wet with a little milk.

  3. Scatter bread crumbs on top.

  4. Bake covered at 350°F (175°C) for 30 minutes, then uncover to 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 + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

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

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

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

  3. Cheese + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,130 recipes

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

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

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

  5. Cheese + milktop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,426 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Macaroni
Forms the starchy bulk and body of the dish as it cooks and sets.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and a smoother, more tender texture.
Grated cheese
Melts into the pasta to add savoury flavour and binding richness.
Cod
Provides the main protein and flavour, turning tender and flaky as it bakes.
Milk
Adds moisture so the pasta stays creamy rather than drying out in the oven.
Bread crumbs
Form a crisp, golden topping as the uncovered dish browns.

The step that matters

Bake covered, then uncover to brown. Baking covered traps steam so the pasta and cod cook through without drying. Uncovering only for the final stretch lets the crumbs crisp and brown. Uncovering too early can dry the dish, while staying covered leaves the topping pale.

“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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