Why it works: Cheese and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,130 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Macaroni and Cheese
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the macaroni
Break macaroni into 1-inch pieces.
Cook macaroni in a large pot of boiling salted water for 45 minutes to 1 hour until tender.
Drain macaroni in a colander and rinse with cold water.
Make and bake
Prepare the vegetable sauce and stir in the cheese and macaroni.
Pour the mixture into a buttered baking dish.
Cover with buttered bread crumbs and bake at 350°F (175°C) until brown.
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.
-
Cheese + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,130 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Cheese + saucetop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,987 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Sauce + breadtop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,934 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Macaroni
- Provides the starchy, bite-sized body that holds the sauce and cheese together.
- Cheese
- Melts into the sauce to add richness, savory flavor and a creamy texture.
- Bread crumbs
- Form a golden, crisp topping through browning in the oven.
The step that matters
Drain the macaroni well and do not overcook it. Pasta keeps absorbing moisture and softening while it bakes in the sauce, so pasta cooked too long or left wet turns mushy and dilutes the sauce.
“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.
More macaroni and cheese recipes
You might also like
Brown Bread461 recipes
White Bread80 recipes
Bread Omelette60 recipes
Oatmeal Bread51 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.