Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Blanquette of Chicken with Macaroni
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the macaroni
Boil the macaroni in water until very tender, adding a bit of butter and salt.
Drain the macaroni in a sieve.
Finish and serve
Toss the drained macaroni in the blanquette of chicken with the béchamel sauce.
Just before serving, while very hot, stir in the egg yolk and cream.
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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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sauce + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,787 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Butter + saucetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together15,338 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Butter + chickentop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,902 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Butter and sauce 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
- Béchamel sauce
- Coats the macaroni and chicken with a creamy, smooth texture.
- Egg yolk
- Enriches the sauce and thickens it gently as it warms.
- Cream
- Adds richness and moisture, softening the sauce's texture.
- Fine pipe macaroni
- Forms the starchy base that soaks up the sauce.
The step that matters
Stirring in the egg yolk and cream. Egg yolk thickens through gentle heat; if the sauce is boiled after it is added, the yolk can scramble and turn grainy. Keep it very hot but not boiling.
“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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