Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. 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
Break macaroni into inch lengths and place in a saucepan with enough cold water to cover.
Cook until tender, about 30 minutes.
Grate the cheese or cut it into small pieces if too rich to grate.
Grease a baking dish with butter.
Assemble and bake
Layer macaroni, cheese, and a few bits of butter in the dish, repeating until full.
Pour in milk to just cover the layers.
Strew cracker crumbs and bits of butter on top.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 30 minutes, until browned on top.
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 + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Cheese + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,962 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Cheese + milktop 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 and starchy structure that holds the sauce-like milk and cheese together.
- Cheese
- Melts into the milk to give richness, flavor, and a creamy texture.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and helps the top brown in the oven.
- Milk
- Provides moisture that softens the pasta and forms a creamy custard as it bakes.
- Cracker crumbs
- Form a crisp, browned topping that contrasts with the soft layers below.
The step that matters
Pour in milk to just cover the layers.. Too little milk leaves the pasta dry and stiff, while too much makes the dish watery and slow to set, so the milk should just reach the top layer.
“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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