Name: Cheese and Macaroni
Ingredients: 1 cup macaroni, broken into small pieces; 1 teaspoon onion juice; 1 teaspoon chopped parsley; 1 tablespoon chopped green peppers; 1 cup cheese (any variety); 1 tablespoon butter; Salt and pepper to taste

Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Cheese and Macaroni

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

1 cup macaroni, broken into small pieces
1 teaspoon onion juice
1 teaspoon chopped parsley
1 tablespoon chopped green peppers
1 cup cheese (any variety)
1 tablespoon butter
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

Cook the macaroni in boiling water until tender.
Rinse the macaroni in cold water.
In a small pot, cook the parsley, onion, and green peppers in a little water with the butter.

Bake

Mix all ingredients together with the cheese.
Transfer to a baking dish and bake at 350°F (175°C) for about 15 minutes.

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.

Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together34,122 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Cheese + buttertop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,962 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,843 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together68,474 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Onion + buttertop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together42,912 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Macaroni: Forms the starchy body of the dish that holds the sauce.
Cheese: Melts into the sauce, providing richness, flavor and a creamy texture.
Butter: Adds fat and richness, carrying flavor from the vegetables.