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
Make the sauce
In a saucepan, melt the butter and stir in the flour until well blended.
Add the milk and stir until it comes to a boil.
Stir in the salt, cayenne pepper, and cheese until the cheese melts.
Bake and serve
Add the boiled macaroni to the sauce and stir well.
Transfer the mixture to a baking dish, sprinkle with fine bread-crumbs, and brown in the oven.
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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Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,962 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Milk + cheesetop 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 of the dish and holds the sauce in each bite.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat that carries flavour into the sauce.
- Flour
- Thickens the melted butter and milk into a smooth, cohesive sauce.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the sauce, which thickens as it heats.
- Cheese
- Adds savoury flavour and melts into the sauce for creaminess.
- Bread-crumbs
- Form a crisp, golden topping when browned in the oven.
The step that matters
Stir the sauce until it boils. Flour thickens milk only once it reaches a boil, and stopping early leaves a thin, floury sauce. Keep stirring so the flour does not clump or scorch on the pan base.
“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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