Name: Macaroni, ‘a LA Hussarde’
Ingredients: 1 pound small macaroni; 4 ounces butter; 3 ounces parmesan cheese; 1 pinch cayenne pepper; 2 tablespoons béchamel sauce; 4 tablespoons melted meat glaze; 4 cooked truffles, shredded into julienne; additional grated parmesan for serving; tomato sauce for serving

Why it works: Pepper and tomato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,923 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Macaroni, ‘a LA Hussarde’

Ingredients

1 pound small macaroni
4 ounces butter
3 ounces parmesan cheese
1 pinch cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons béchamel sauce
4 tablespoons melted meat glaze
4 cooked truffles, shredded into julienne
additional grated parmesan for serving
tomato sauce for serving

Directions

Make the macaroni

Boil the macaroni in salted water until al dente, then drain well.
Return the macaroni to the pot and add butter and parmesan cheese.
Mix in cayenne pepper, béchamel sauce, melted meat glaze, and shredded truffles.

Serve

Transfer the macaroni to a warm serving dish, sprinkle with additional grated parmesan, and moisten with tomato sauce.
Serve hot.

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.

Pepper + tomatotop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,923 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Butter + parmesan cheesetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,163 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Parmesan cheese + tomatotop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,490 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Butter + truffletop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,209 recipes

Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
Parmesan cheese + truffletop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together140 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

Macaroni: Forms the bulk of the dish and gives it a firm, pleasantly chewy structure when cooked al dente.
Butter: Adds richness and a smooth, glossy coating that helps the pasta feel silky.
Parmesan cheese: Adds savoury, salty depth and helps the sauce cling to the pasta.
Béchamel sauce: Adds creaminess and moisture, binding the pasta into a cohesive, tender mixture.
Meat glaze: Contributes concentrated savoury flavour and body to the coating.
Truffles: Provide a strong, earthy aroma that defines the dish's character.

The step that matters

Mix in the béchamel, meat glaze and truffles. Melted meat glaze and béchamel should be incorporated while the macaroni is still hot so they coat evenly and emulsify into a smooth sauce; cold pasta leads to clumping and uneven distribution of the flavourings.

Swap the tomato

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

Asparagusfits about as well
Tomatothe original
Capsicumfits about as well
Potatofits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, parmesan cheese, pepper, sauce, meat, truffle. 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.