Name: Tomatoes and Macaroni
Ingredients: 1 lb small-cut macaroni; 1 lb sound tomatoes; 2 oz butter; grated cheese; finely-chopped parsley

Why it works: Tomato and parsley are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,398 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Tomatoes and Macaroni

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the macaroni

Boil the macaroni in salted water until tender.
Drain the macaroni.

Stew the tomatoes

In another saucepan, combine the tomatoes and butter.
Stew for 15 minutes.

Assemble and serve

Pile the macaroni on a hot dish.
Arrange the stewed tomatoes around it.
Sprinkle grated cheese over the macaroni.
Top the tomatoes with finely-chopped parsley before serving.

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.

Tomato + parsleytop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,398 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,962 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Tomato + cheesetop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,896 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together28,563 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Tomato + buttertop 22% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,918 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

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

What each ingredient does

Macaroni: Provides the starchy bulk of the dish and holds its shape when cooked until tender.
Tomatoes: Supply moisture and acidity, which soften into a sauce when stewed with butter.
Butter: Adds richness and fat, giving the stewed tomatoes a smooth, rounded texture.
Grated cheese: Adds savoury, salty flavour and a little browning or melt over the hot macaroni.