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 Tomatoes
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the macaroni
Boil the macaroni until tender, then drain and cut into half-inch lengths.
Make the sauce
Melt the butter in a saucepan, cook the flour in it for a minute, then stir in the milk and bring to a boil.
Season with salt and pepper.
Skin the tomatoes by plunging them into boiling water for 30 seconds, then slice and add to the sauce.
Stir over heat until the tomatoes are tender and the sauce thickens.
Remove from heat, add the cheese, and pour into a greased pie dish.
Bake and serve
Mix 2 teaspoons of cheese with an equal amount of breadcrumbs and sprinkle over the top.
Bake at 400°F (200°C) for about 30 minutes.
Serve hot.
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.
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Pepper + tomatotop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Butter + cheesetop 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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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Forms the bulk of the dish and gives it a tender, starchy body.
- Butter
- Adds richness and carries flavour through the sauce base.
- Flour
- Thickens the milk into a smooth sauce that holds the dish together.
- Tomatoes
- Add moisture and gentle acidity that brightens the cheese sauce.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid of the sauce, becoming creamy as it thickens.
- Grated cheese
- Melts into the sauce for savoury richness and browns on top when baked.
The step that matters
Cook the flour in the butter before adding the milk. Cooking the flour briefly in fat removes its raw taste and helps it thicken smoothly. Adding milk too early, or skipping the stir, can leave lumps and a floury flavour in the sauce.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, pepper, milk, cheese):
- Potatofits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Asparagusfits about as well
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, pepper, milk, 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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