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
Boil the macaroni in salted boiling water for 15 minutes.
Drain the macaroni and add it to the boiling milk; cook for 10 minutes.
Blend some of the boiling milk with the roux and curry powder; stir this mixture into the soup.
Add the cheeses and boil for 3 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper, then serve.
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.
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Gruyere cheese + parmesan cheesetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together152 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
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Gruyere cheese + milktop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together130 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
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Parmesan cheese + peppertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,322 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
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Parmesan cheese + milktop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,608 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
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Milk + peppertop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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 bite into.
- White roux
- Flour and butter mixture that thickens the milk into a creamy soup.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the pasta cooks in and the roux thickens.
- Gruyere cheese
- Melts into the soup, adding rich, savory flavor and creaminess.
- Parmesan cheese
- Melts into the soup, adding salty, savory depth and body.
The step that matters
Add the cheeses and boil for 3 minutes. Cheese can turn grainy or stringy if it boils hard or too long, because high heat pushes proteins and fat apart. Keep the soup at a gentle simmer once the cheese goes in.
“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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