Name: Neapolitan Macaroni
Ingredients: macaroni; salt; butter; grated Parmesan cheese; black pepper; rich brown gravy (optional); weak veal-broth (optional)

Why it works: Butter and parmesan cheese are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,163 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Neapolitan Macaroni

Ingredients

Directions

Boil the macaroni quickly in salted water until tender, then drain thoroughly.
In a stewpan, combine the macaroni with a few bits of butter, grated Parmesan cheese, black pepper, and salt. Toss until well mixed.
Transfer to a dish and top with more grated cheese. Do not brown.
For layered macaroni, place a layer in a dish, season with black pepper and salt, then add a layer of Parmesan cheese. Repeat for 2 or 3 layers, finishing with cheese on top.
Pour rich brown gravy around the layers if desired.
Alternatively, boil macaroni in weak veal-broth until soft, adding salt for seasoning. Drain and layer with butter and grated cheese, topping with more cheese and butter.
Place in a Dutch oven for 1 hour, ensuring the cheese does not harden.

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.

Butter + parmesan cheesetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,163 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Parmesan cheese + peppertop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,322 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Pepper + vealtop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,049 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together85,593 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Butter + vealtop 23% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,381 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).