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Roman Pudding

A savory pudding made with macaroni, cold meats, Parmesan, eggs, cream, and seasonings, baked and served hot or cold.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Roman Pudding

Why it works: Pepper and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,047 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓

Roman Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Boil the macaroni until tender, then strain and let it cool.

  2. Finely chop the cold meat and mix it with the cheese, seasonings, beaten eggs, and cream.

Assemble and cook

  1. Butter a pudding basin and line it with the macaroni, ensuring the lines go around the basin.

  2. Fill the basin with the meat mixture and lay some strips of macaroni over the top.

  3. Cover and boil for 30 minutes.

Serve

  1. Turn out the pudding.

  2. Glaze the pudding.

  3. Serve with brown gravy.

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.

  1. Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together27,047 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  2. Nutmeg + lemontop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,318 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Nutmeg + creamtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,920 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  5. Parmesan cheese + peppertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,322 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Bind the meat and cream mixture so the pudding holds its shape when turned out.
Parmesan cheese
Adds savoury, salty flavour and helps the mixture set with a firm, rich body.
Cream
Adds moisture and richness, keeping the meat mixture soft and tender as it sets.
Naples macaroni
Forms a structural lining and top layer that holds the pudding together when turned out.
Cold meat
Provides the main savoury filling, with texture and flavour carried through the pudding.

The step that matters

Covering and boiling the pudding. Egg-based mixtures set gently when heated; boiling too vigorously can make the custard-like filling spongy or cause it to break apart. Keep the water at a gentle simmer so the eggs set evenly.

“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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