Why it works: Pepper and parmesan cheese are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and 5,322 recipes mention both. Both carry ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: egg, milk (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Prepare the soup
Boil the white stock.
Add the macaroni cut into neat pieces and cool slightly.
Thicken and finish
Mix the egg yolks, cream, and milk together, then strain into the soup.
Thicken the soup without boiling.
Add the grated cheese and cayenne pepper.
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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Pepper + parmesan cheesetop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together5,322 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
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Milk + parmesan cheesetop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,607 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
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Egg + milktop 9% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together88,465 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Cream + parmesan cheesetop 9% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together1,565 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).
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Milk + creamtop 9% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together29,395 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
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the soup as they set gently with heat, giving it body.
- Cream
- Adds richness and a smooth, velvety texture to the soup.
- Milk
- Dilutes the custard mixture and adds mild sweetness and body.
- Parmesan cheese
- Adds savoury, salty flavour and a little body as it melts into the soup.
The step that matters
Thicken the soup without boiling. Egg yolks begin to scramble and curdle above about 70°C (160°F), so the soup must be thickened gently over low heat and never allowed to boil once the yolk mixture is added.
“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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