Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Macaroni Cheese
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Cook the macaroni
Boil the macaroni in salted boiling water for about 40 minutes or until tender.
Place the cooked macaroni in a shallow dish.
Assemble and bake
Sprinkle the grated cheese and small pieces of butter over the macaroni.
Cover with finely grated bread crumbs.
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven until the bread crumbs are brown.
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.
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Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Cheese + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,130 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Cheese + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,962 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
- Macaroni
- Forms the starchy base that holds the cheese and gives the dish its body.
- Grated cheese
- Melts into the macaroni to add richness, flavour and a creamy texture.
- Butter
- Adds fat that carries flavour and helps the topping brown evenly.
- Bread crumbs
- Form a crisp, browned topping when baked.
The step that matters
Baking until the bread crumbs are brown. Baking only until the crumbs turn golden keeps the topping crisp and the cheese melted without drying out the macaroni beneath.
“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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