Name: Macaroni and Tomato
Ingredients: 8 ounces macaroni; 2 tablespoons butter; ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese; ½ cup grated Gruyere cheese; ¼ teaspoon black pepper; ¼ teaspoon coarse sea salt; ¼ teaspoon nutmeg; ½ cup cream; 1 cup thick tomato sauce

Why it works: Parmesan cheese and gruyere 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 ↓

Macaroni and Tomato

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Boil the macaroni in stock until tender, then drain and rinse with cold water.
In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.

Combine and serve

Add the macaroni, Parmesan, Gruyere, pepper, salt, nutmeg, cream, and tomato sauce.
Toss everything together for a few minutes until well combined.

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.

Parmesan cheese + gruyere cheesetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together152 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together13,015 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Pepper + tomatotop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,923 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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).

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 body of the dish, holding the sauce.
Parmesan cheese: Adds savory, salty flavor and helps the sauce cling to the pasta.
Gruyere cheese: Melts smoothly into the sauce, adding nutty flavor and creaminess.
Cream: Adds moisture and richness, helping the cheese form a smooth sauce.
Tomato sauce: Provides acidity and savory depth, coloring and flavoring the pasta.

Swap the nutmeg

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, parmesan cheese, gruyere cheese, pepper, cream, tomato, sauce):

Garlicfits about as well
Celeryfits about as well
Thymefits about as well
Nutmegthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, parmesan cheese, gruyere cheese, pepper, cream, tomato, sauce. 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.