Why it works: Bread and ham are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,536 recipes. Both carry 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, which smells popcorn, roasted. The science ↓
Meat with Macaroni
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the meat
Sprinkle the meat with pepper and chopped herbs.
Pour stock over the meat.
Cover the meat for a short time.
Prepare the dish
Grease a deep dish.
Dredge the bottom and sides of the dish with bread crumbs.
Boil the macaroni until half-cooked, about ½ pound.
Line the dish with forcemeat.
Add a layer of ham or bacon slices.
Place the piece of meat on top.
Add more bacon slices.
Cover with another layer of forcemeat.
Bake and serve
Cover the dish and set it in a tin of hot water in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 30 minutes.
Remove the tin and cook for an additional 15 minutes.
Finish the macaroni in stock or sauce.
Turn the meat onto a hot dish and arrange the macaroni around it.
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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Bread + hamtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,536 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
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Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Mutton + breadtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,488 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Mutton + hamtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together430 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Bread + oniontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,676 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Mutton or veal fillet
- Provides the main meat, which becomes tender and juicy during the slow, covered baking.
- Macaroni
- Forms a starchy base around the meat that absorbs stock and sauce as it finishes cooking.
- Forcemeat
- Encloses the meat in a seasoned layer that holds moisture and adds savoury flavour.
- Stock
- Adds moisture and savour, helping the meat stay juicy and the macaroni finish softening.
- Ham or bacon
- Adds salty, smoky fat that flavours the meat and the forcemeat as it bakes.
The step that matters
Covering the dish in a tin of hot water. The water bath moderates the oven heat so the meat and forcemeat cook gently through without drying or over-browning on the outside. Keeping the dish covered traps steam, which helps keep the meat moist.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, pepper, bread, ham):
- Tomatofits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Carrotfits about as well
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, pepper, bread, ham. 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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