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Macaroni and Ham

A baked macaroni dish with ham, cheese, and a buttery sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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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 Ham

Oven, in the book's wordsA steady oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a steady oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the macaroni

  1. Boil the macaroni in salted water until tender.

  2. Drain the macaroni, rinse in cold water, and cut into 1-inch lengths.

Make the sauce

  1. In a saucepan, make a roux by stirring the flour in hot butter until smooth.

  2. Gradually add the scalding milk and baking soda to prevent curdling.

  3. Add the macaroni, minced ham, dry mustard, and cayenne to the roux.

  4. Stir in the beaten egg.

Bake and serve

  1. Pour the mixture into a buttered baking dish.

  2. Top with cracker crumbs and grated cheese.

  3. Bake covered in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 30 minutes.

  4. Uncover and brown the top.

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.

  1. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  2. Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,962 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,430 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Milk + cheesetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,426 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Mustard + cheesetop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,805 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

Macaroni
Forms the bulk of the casserole and gives it a firm, chewy body once baked.
Flour
Thickens the butter and milk into a smooth sauce that holds the casserole together.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the sauce, adding moisture and creaminess.
Egg
Sets during baking, binding the sauce and pasta into a sliceable casserole.
Ham
Adds savory, salty meat flavor throughout the casserole.
Grated cheese
Melts and browns on top, adding richness and a golden crust.

The step that matters

Gradually add the scalding milk and baking soda. Adding the hot milk slowly to the roux keeps the flour evenly dispersed so the sauce stays smooth instead of lumpy. Adding it gradually also helps prevent the egg-free sauce from curdling when the alkaline baking soda is introduced.

Swap the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, milk, ham, pepper, egg, cheese):

  1. Potatofits about as well
  2. Asparagusfits about as well
  3. Capsicumfits about as well
  4. Mustardthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, milk, ham, pepper, egg, 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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