Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Macaroni a LA Gongress
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the macaroni
Break the macaroni into small pieces and boil in 1 pint of salted water for 15 minutes.
If any water remains, drain it and keep the macaroni hot.
Prepare the eggs and tomato
Boil the eggs hard, shell them, and chop the yolks and whites separately.
Slice the tomato and cook it in the oven for 10 minutes or in a frying pan.
Make the sauce and assemble
In a saucepan, melt the butter, add the flour, and cook briefly.
Gradually add the milk and parsley to create a thick sauce.
Place the macaroni on a dish, layer with tomato and egg whites, pour the sauce over, and sprinkle the egg yolks on top.
Serve hot.
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.
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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Tomato + parsleytop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,398 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Macaroni
- Forms the bulk of the dish and gives it its starchy body.
- Eggs
- Whites set firm when cooked, adding structure and texture; yolks add richness.
- Butter
- Adds fat and flavour, and forms the base of the roux with the flour.
- Flour
- Thickens the melted butter and milk into a smooth, thick sauce.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid of the white sauce, adding creaminess and body.
- Tomato
- Adds moisture and a slightly acidic, fresh flavour to the layers.
The step that matters
Cooking the flour into the butter before adding the milk. Cooking the flour briefly in melted butter forms a roux, which coats the starch granules so the milk thickens smoothly without lumps. Adding milk too early or too fast can leave lumps in the sauce.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, butter, milk, flour, pepper, parsley):
- Shallotfits better
- Chivefits better
- Potatofits better
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, butter, milk, flour, pepper, parsley. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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