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 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.
Prepare the macaroni
Boil the macaroni in salted water for 20 minutes, then drain and rinse with cold water.
In a baking dish, layer macaroni and cheese, repeating until the dish is full.
Make the sauce
In a saucepan, melt 1 tablespoon of butter, add flour, and cook until bubbly.
Gradually whisk in the milk and cook until thickened like cream.
Assemble and bake
Pour the sauce over the macaroni and cheese layers.
Melt 2 tablespoons of butter and mix with dry bread crumbs, then sprinkle on top.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) until the top is 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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Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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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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Cheese + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,130 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Cheese + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,962 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Cheese + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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 bulk and structure of the dish, holding the cheese and sauce together.
- Cheese
- Melts into the sauce and layers, adding rich flavor and a stretchy, creamy texture.
- Butter
- Adds richness and flavor to the sauce and helps the topping brown.
- Flour
- Cooked with butter to form a roux that thickens the milk into a smooth sauce.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the sauce, giving it a creamy body once thickened.
The step that matters
Whisking the milk into the roux. Flour must be cooked briefly in butter, then the milk added gradually while whisking, so the starch granules disperse evenly. This prevents lumps and lets the sauce thicken smoothly.
“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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