Why it works: Milk and butter 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 with 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.
Prepare
Cook the macaroni according to package instructions and drain.
Layer
In a small pudding dish, layer half of the macaroni, then add a layer of grated cheese, salt, pepper, and bits of butter.
Repeat with the remaining macaroni and another layer of cheese, salt, pepper, and butter.
Bake and serve
Beat the eggs until light and mix in the milk.
Pour the egg and milk mixture over the macaroni and cheese layers.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) for about 30 minutes or until 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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Cheese + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,962 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Milk + cheesetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,426 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Cheese + peppertop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,861 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
- Eggs
- Bind the custard and help set the dish into a firm, sliceable texture as they cook.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid custard with the eggs, keeping the pasta moist as it bakes.
- Cheese
- Melts into the pasta and adds rich flavor and a creamy, stretchy texture.
- Macaroni
- Provides the body of the dish, soaking up the custard as it bakes.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, helping the top brown and the flavor feel full.
The step that matters
Bake until brown. Egg custard sets as its proteins firm with heat; pulling the dish too early leaves it loose, while overbaking can make it dry and rubbery.
“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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