Why it works: Parmesan cheese and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and 1,565 recipes mention both. Both carry gamma-decalactone, which smells peach, creamy. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: egg, milk (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Prepare
Bring the stock to a boil in a stewpan.
In a bowl, mix the eggs and cream together.
Make the soup
Pour the egg and cream mixture into the boiling stock with a little salt, stirring until the eggs are cooked.
Remove from heat and add the macaroni cut into pieces half an inch long, the grated cheese, and a little cayenne.
Do not let the soup boil after adding the cheese, or it will spoil.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Parmesan cheese + creamtop 9% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together1,565 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).
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Egg + parmesan cheesetop 10% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together3,059 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Egg + creamtop 12% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together41,958 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Yolks thicken the soup into a smooth, creamy body as they cook gently in the stock.
- Cream
- Adds richness and moisture, softening the egg mixture so it blends evenly into the stock.
- Parmesan cheese
- Adds savory flavor and body, melting into the soup for a rich, salty finish.
- Macaroni
- Provides bulk and a tender bite that soaks up some of the soup's flavor.
The step that matters
Do not let the soup boil after adding the cheese. High heat makes the cheese separate and turn grainy or stringy, and can curdle the egg yolks, so the soup spoils. Keep it hot but below a boil.
“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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