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Macaroni and Cheese

A baked macaroni dish layered with cheese, butter, and cracker crumbs, finished with cream or milk.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Macaroni and Cheese

Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the macaroni

  1. Break the macaroni into 2-inch pieces.

  2. Simmer in salted water for 20 minutes.

  3. Drain the macaroni and layer it in a buttered baking dish.

Assemble and bake

  1. Add a thin layer of grated cheese and bits of butter on top.

  2. Repeat the layers until the dish is full, finishing with cheese on top.

  3. Sprinkle with cracker crumbs.

  4. Pour 1 cup of cream or milk over the entire dish.

  5. Bake until golden brown.

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.

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.

  1. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

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

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

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

  3. Cheese + creamtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,655 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 once baked.
Grated cheese
Melts into the macaroni to add richness and savory flavor.
Butter
Adds fat and richness to the layers and helps browning.
Cream or milk
Soaks into the layers to add moisture and create a creamy texture.
Cracker crumbs
Crisp the top surface as the dish bakes.

The step that matters

Simmer in salted water for 20 minutes. Pasta cooked fully but not past tender keeps its texture through baking. Undercooked pasta stays firm, while overcooked pasta turns soft and mushy in the oven.

“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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