Name: Macaroni Quenelles for Gravy or White Soups
Ingredients: 2 ounces butter; flour (as much as it will absorb); 4 ounces macaroni; 4 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated; ½ teaspoon mixed Cayenne and powdered mace; thick cream (as needed)

Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Macaroni Quenelles for Gravy or White Soups

Ingredients

2 ounces butter
flour (as much as it will absorb)
4 ounces macaroni
4 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated
½ teaspoon mixed Cayenne and powdered mace
thick cream (as needed)

Directions

Make the paste

Dissolve the butter in a saucepan.
Mix in enough flour to absorb the butter.
Boil the macaroni until soft, then drain.
Combine the macaroni with the grated Parmesan, Cayenne, and mace.
Beat this mixture with the flour and butter, adding cream to form a smooth paste.

Shape and poach

Mould the paste into quenelles using a spoon.
Poach the quenelles in boiling stock for three minutes.
Drain on a napkin and add to the soup when serving.

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.

Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,516 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Butter + parmesan cheesetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,163 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Parmesan cheese + creamtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,566 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).
Mace + creamtop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together4,009 recipes

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

Butter: Enriches the paste and carries flour into a smooth, rich dough.
Flour: Absorbs the melted butter to give the paste body so it holds its shape.
Macaroni: Adds bulk and a tender, starchy base to the quenelle paste.
Parmesan cheese: Adds savoury flavour and salty depth to the paste.
Thick cream: Moistens the paste into a smooth mixture that can be shaped.

The step that matters

Poaching the quenelles in boiling stock. Quenelles are delicate and can break apart if the stock is not at a steady boil or if they are handled roughly. A gentle, brief poach sets the paste so it holds its shape in the soup.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, parmesan cheese, cream):

Nutmegfits better
Capersfits better
Jalapenofits better
Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, parmesan cheese, cream. 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.

Macaroni and Cheese102 recipes

Cheese Making50 recipes

Cheese Fritters34 recipes

Cheese Omelette31 recipes

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Macaroni Quenelles for Gravy or White Soups