Name: A Mould of Noodles, with Ham
Ingredients: 1 egg; coarse sea salt; butter; fine bread crumbs; chopped ham; 2 eggs; 1 cup milk

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 ↓

A Mould of Noodles, with Ham

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 noodles by mixing flour and 1 egg, then roll out and cut into strips.
Boil well-salted water and cook the noodles for 5 minutes.
Butter a quart mould and sprinkle with fine bread crumbs.
Line the mould with cooled noodles, alternating layers with seasoned chopped ham.
Beat 2 eggs and mix with 1 cup of milk, then pour into the mould.
Cover with a plate and bake at 350°F (175°C) for 1 hour.
Turn out onto a platter and serve hot, garnished with spinach or finely cut sauerkraut.

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.

Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,232 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Bread + hamtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,536 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
Bread + milktop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together11,466 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together22,662 recipes

Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).