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Timbale De Macaroni

A baked macaroni dish with ham, breadcrumbs, stock, Worcestershire sauce, mushroom ketchup, and egg, served with béchamel or stewed mushrooms.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Ham and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,536 recipes. Both carry 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, which smells popcorn, roasted. The science ↓

Timbale De Macaroni

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the filling

  1. Boil the macaroni in salted boiling water for about 25 minutes until tender.

  2. Drain the macaroni and cut into 1-inch pieces.

  3. Mix the bread crumbs and ham well.

  4. Add the stock, Worcestershire sauce, and mushroom catsup to the mixture.

  5. Mix in the beaten egg.

Mould and steam

  1. Grease a plain mold with a cover.

  2. Line the mold with macaroni.

  3. Fill the mold with the mixture, pressing closely.

  4. Put on the lid and fasten it firmly.

  5. Stand the mold in a kettle of boiling water deep enough to cover it, then cover the kettle.

  6. Boil for 1 hour.

Serve

  1. When done, turn it out from the mold.

  2. Serve with béchamel sauce or stewed mushrooms.

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. Ham + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,536 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

  2. Mushroom + breadtop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,536 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,662 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

  4. Ham + mushroomtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,486 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  5. Ham + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,526 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

What each ingredient does

Macaroni
Forms the outer shell and gives the timbale its firm, sliceable structure as it cooks.
Ham
Supplies the main meaty flavour of the filling.
Egg
Binds the filling so it sets firm when heated.
Bread crumbs
Absorb liquid and help hold the filling together.
Stock
Adds moisture and savoury depth to the filling.

The step that matters

Fill the mold with the mixture, pressing closely.. Air gaps left in the filling can leave holes, and the beaten egg needs even contact with the mixture to set evenly. Firm packing helps the timbale hold its shape when turned out.

“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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