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Macaroni Au Gratin

A baked pasta dish with macaroni, cheese sauce, and browned breadcrumb topping.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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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 Au Gratin

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

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 the sauce

  1. Boil the macaroni until tender, then drain.

  2. In a double boiler, heat the milk.

  3. In a separate bowl, rub together the butter and flour, then add to the boiling milk.

  4. Stir until the mixture thickens, then add salt and cayenne.

  5. Stir in the grated cheese until melted.

Assemble and bake

  1. Place the drained macaroni in a baking dish and pour the cheese sauce over it.

  2. Mix the bread crumbs with melted butter and sprinkle on top.

  3. Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven for about 15 minutes, until the crumbs are 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.

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 + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

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

  2. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

  3. Cheese + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,130 recipes

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

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

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

  5. Milk + cheesetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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 its tubes and curves.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the sauce, which thickens as it heats.
Butter
Adds richness and, with flour, forms the roux that thickens the sauce.
Flour
Thickens the milk into a smooth sauce when cooked with butter.
Grated cheese
Melts into the sauce, adding savory flavor and a creamy texture.
Dried bread crumbs
Form a crisp topping that browns in the oven.

The step that matters

Thickening the white sauce. Add the butter-flour mixture to hot milk and stir constantly until it thickens. Lumps form if flour is not dispersed, and the sauce only thickens fully once it reaches a simmer.

“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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