Name: Macaroni and Cheese
Ingredients: 2 cups broken macaroni; ½ cup butter; 1 cup milk; 1 cup grated cheese; 2 eggs (optional)

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 200°F (93°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Cook the macaroni

Cook the macaroni in a double boiler with plenty of hot water until tender.
Ensure the water is boiling when adding the macaroni, but do not let it boil afterwards.
Maintain a steady heat at 200°F (93°C) or slightly above.

Finish the dish

Once tender, drain the macaroni and add butter, milk, and grated cheese.
If desired, beat the eggs and mix them into the milk before adding.

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.

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.

Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,962 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Milk + cheesetop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,426 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together118,967 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together88,785 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Macaroni: Forms the starchy base that gives the dish its body and bite.
Butter: Adds fat for richness and a smooth, silky mouthfeel.
Milk: Provides liquid that makes a creamy sauce with the melted cheese.
Grated cheese: Melts into the sauce to supply flavour and a rich, stringy texture.
Eggs: Optionally thicken the sauce as they set gently with heat.

The step that matters

Keeping the heat gentle after the macaroni goes in. If the water keeps boiling, the macaroni can break apart and turn mushy, and the steady low heat of a double boiler keeps the cooking even. Holding the water at a steady heat near 200°F (93°C) helps the pasta cook evenly without overcooking at the edges.

“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.