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Macaroni with Cheese

A baked macaroni dish with cheese, butter, milk, and bread crumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Macaroni with Cheese

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 with Cheese

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.

Cook the macaroni

  1. Break macaroni into bits and add to boiling water with salt.

  2. Boil for 15 minutes.

  3. Drain the water and return the macaroni to a saucepan.

  4. Add enough milk to cover and boil until done.

Assemble and bake

  1. Butter a pudding dish and sprinkle the bottom with grated cheese.

  2. Layer macaroni, a little pepper, plenty of butter, and more cheese in the dish.

  3. Repeat with another layer of macaroni and cheese, then top with bread crumbs.

  4. Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven until browned.

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. Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

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

  2. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

  3. Cheese + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,130 recipes

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

  4. Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,962 recipes

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

  5. Milk + cheesetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,426 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 bulk and structure of the dish, setting firm when baked.
Milk
Cooks into the macaroni to add moisture and a creamy texture.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, helping the top brown and the dish taste rounded.
Grated cheese
Melts into the layers to add savory flavor and a stretchy, binding texture.
Bread crumbs
Forms a crisp, golden topping as the dish bakes.

The step that matters

Cook the macaroni until done in the milk. Cooking the pasta fully in the milk lets it absorb liquid and soften before baking; underdone pasta stays firm and the dish can turn out dry.

“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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