Why it works: Milk and cheese are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,426 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Macaroni and 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.
Cook the macaroni
Cook the macaroni in boiling salted water until tender, then drain and rinse with cold water to prevent sticking.
Make the sauce
In a saucepan, combine flour, milk, and cheese to make a sauce over medium heat.
Assemble and bake
In a buttered baking dish, layer the macaroni and cheese sauce alternately.
Top with buttered breadcrumbs and bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven until the crumbs are golden 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 + cheesetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,426 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Cheese + peppertop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,861 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Flour + peppertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + peppertop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together26,984 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Milk and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Macaroni
- Provides the starchy body that the sauce coats and holds together in the baked dish.
- Flour
- Thickens the milk and cheese into a smooth, cohesive sauce.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the sauce, giving it creaminess and moisture.
- Cheese
- Gives the sauce its rich flavor and, when melted, its stretchy, creamy texture.
The step that matters
Combine the flour, milk, and cheese over medium heat. Flour must be whisked into the milk so starch can gelatinize and thicken the sauce smoothly; heating too hard or too fast can make it lumpy or cause the cheese to turn grainy and oily.
“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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