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Soup

Macroni and Parmesan Cheese Soup

A soup made with macaroni, veal broth, Parmesan cheese, mace, egg yolks, and cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Parmesan cheese and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,322 recipes. Both carry ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓

Macroni and Parmesan Cheese Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Make the soup

  1. Boil the macaroni in 1 quart of veal broth until tender.

  2. Add the grated Parmesan cheese and pounded mace.

  3. Pour in 5 more pints of veal broth.

  4. Boil for 5 minutes.

  5. Rub the mixture through a fine cloth.

  6. Boil again for 10 minutes.

  7. Skim off any fat.

Finish and serve

  1. Season with salt and cayenne pepper to taste.

  2. Mix in the egg yolks and cream before 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.

  1. Parmesan cheese + peppertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,322 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  2. Mace + peppertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together12,257 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  3. Parmesan cheese + creamtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,566 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).

  4. Veal + macetop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,761 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

  5. Mace + creamtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,009 recipes

Mace and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,257 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
Softens into the soup and gives it body and bite.
Parmesan cheese
Adds savory, salty flavor and richness to the broth.
Egg yolks
Thicken the soup gently and add richness when stirred in without boiling.
Cream
Adds fat and a smooth, velvety texture to the soup.
Veal broth
Forms the liquid base that carries all the flavors.

The step that matters

Mix in the egg yolks and cream before serving. Egg yolks can curdle and turn grainy if they boil. Stir them in off the heat or over very low heat so they thicken the soup smoothly.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, parmesan cheese, pepper, egg, cream):

  1. Nutmegfits better
  2. Parsleyfits better
  3. Celeryfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against veal, parmesan cheese, pepper, egg, 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.

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