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Soup

Soupe Au Macaroni

A French macaroni soup made with milk, curry powder, roux, and Gruyère and Parmesan cheeses.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Gruyere cheese and parmesan cheese match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 152 recipes. Both carry ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓

Soupe Au Macaroni

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Boil the macaroni in salted boiling water for 15 minutes.

  2. Drain the macaroni and add it to the boiling milk; cook for 10 minutes.

Finish the soup

  1. Blend some of the boiling milk with the roux and curry powder; stir this mixture into the soup.

  2. Add the cheeses and boil for 3 minutes.

  3. Season with salt and pepper, then serve.

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. Gruyere cheese + parmesan cheesetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together152 recipes

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

  2. Gruyere cheese + milktop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together130 recipes

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

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

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

  4. Parmesan cheese + milktop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,608 recipes

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

  5. Milk + peppertop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together26,984 recipes

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

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Macaroni
Forms the body of the soup and gives it substance to eat.
White roux
Thickens the milk so the soup becomes creamy rather than watery.
Milk
Forms the liquid base that the pasta cooks in and the roux thickens.
Gruyere cheese
Melts into the soup, adding richness and a savoury, nutty flavour.
Parmesan cheese
Adds salty, savoury depth and helps the soup taste rich.
Curry powder
Adds warm spiced aroma that flavours the milk base.

The step that matters

Stir the roux mixture into the soup. Roux thickens best when blended into hot liquid smoothly; adding it lumpy or without blending first can leave clumps and an uneven texture.

“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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