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Macaroni Fie

A baked macaroni dish with ham, duck, gravy, cream, and puff pastry topping.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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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 ↓

Macaroni Fie

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare

  1. Cook the macaroni in boiling water until tender, then drain.

Assemble

  1. Layer half of the macaroni in a baking dish.

  2. Add grated ham and bits of butter on top.

  3. Layer the remaining macaroni and add shredded meat.

  4. Pour gravy over the top and add more bits of butter.

  5. Season cream with salt and pepper, then pour over the dish.

  6. Cover with puff pastry and bake at 400°F (200°C) until golden.

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. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Ham + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,475 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  3. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  4. Ham + creamtop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,370 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  5. Ham + peppertop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together6,058 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 bulk and starchy body of the pie, holding its layers together.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, carrying flavor and helping the top brown.
Grated ham
Contributes salty, savory flavor throughout the layers.
Cream
Adds moisture and richness that softens the macaroni as it bakes.
Gravy
Supplies moisture and savory depth to the layers.
Puff pastry
Forms a flaky, golden crust that browns in the oven.

The step that matters

Bake until golden. Puff pastry needs a hot oven to rise and brown properly. Pulling it too early leaves the crust pale and doughy, while baking too long can dry the filling beneath.

“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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