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Fish and Macaroni

A baked casserole of flaked fish, macaroni, cheese, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Cheese and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,962 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Fish and Macaroni

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Remove skin and bones from the fish and separate it into large flakes.

  2. Break the macaroni into 1-inch pieces and boil in salted water until tender.

Assemble

  1. Grease a pie dish and layer in the fish, seasoning with salt and pepper.

  2. Cover with macaroni and sprinkle with cheese and seasoning.

  3. Repeat layers until the dish is full.

  4. Dot the top with small pieces of butter.

Bake

  1. Bake at 400°F (200°C) for about 20 minutes.

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.

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. Cheese + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,962 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Fish + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,488 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Fish + cheesetop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together135 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  4. Cheese + peppertop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,861 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Fish + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,948 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

Fish
Forms the main body of the casserole and provides its savory flavor and protein structure.
Macaroni
Adds bulk and a starchy base that holds the layers together and soaks up flavor.
Cheese
Melts and browns during baking, adding richness and a golden crust.
Butter
Adds fat and richness, and helps the top brown as it melts.

The step that matters

Dot the top with small pieces of butter. Butter spread over the surface melts and carries fat into the top layer, promoting even browning and a moist, rich finish rather than a dry crust.

“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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