Name: Macaroni with Tomato Sauce
Ingredients: ½ cup tomato sauce; 1 ounce butter; ½ cup Spanish sauce or rich meat gravy (free from fat); ½ pound spaghetti or macaroni; ½ ounce grated cheese

Why it works: Butter and cheese are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,962 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Macaroni with Tomato Sauce

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

½ cup tomato sauce
1 ounce butter
½ cup Spanish sauce or rich meat gravy (free from fat)
½ pound spaghetti or macaroni
½ ounce grated cheese

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the sauce

Combine the tomato sauce, butter, and Spanish sauce in a saucepan and stir until smoothly blended.

Layer and bake

Layer ½ inch of macaroni in a dish.
Moisten with 4 tablespoons of the sauce and sprinkle with ½ ounce of grated cheese.
Repeat layering with the remaining macaroni, cheese, and sauce.
Brown the macaroni in a 400°F (200°C) oven for about 5 minutes.
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.

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.

Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,962 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Tomato + cheesetop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,896 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Sauce + buttertop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together15,338 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Tomato + saucetop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together5,469 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Sauce + cheesetop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,987 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Sauce and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,338 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

Spaghetti or macaroni: Forms the bulk of the dish, giving body and a starchy structure to the layers.
Tomato sauce: Provides moisture and acidity that flavour the macaroni and keep it from drying out.
Spanish sauce or rich meat gravy: Adds savoury depth and moisture to the sauce that soaks into the pasta.
Butter: Adds fat and richness, carrying flavour and helping the sauce feel smooth.
Grated cheese: Melts into the layers and browns in the oven, adding savoury flavour and a golden top.

The step that matters

Brown the macaroni in the oven. Five minutes at 400°F is short, so the top must be watched closely. Browning depends on surface heat and dryness, and too little time leaves the cheese unmelted, while too long can scorch the cheese and dry the sauce.