Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Macaroni and Cheese
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Break the macaroni into 1-2 inch pieces.
Cook the macaroni in boiling water with salt for 20 minutes.
Drain the macaroni well.
Assemble and bake
In a buttered pudding dish, layer macaroni, grated cheese, butter, salt, and pepper.
Repeat layers until the dish is filled.
Top with cracker crumbs and pour milk or cream over the entire dish.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 30 minutes until browned on top.
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.
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,962 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Cheese + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,426 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Cheese + peppertop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,861 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Macaroni
- Forms the starchy bulk of the dish that holds the cheese and sauce together.
- Grated cheese
- Melts into the milk or cream to create a rich, creamy sauce and savory flavor.
- Milk or cream
- Provides liquid that sets with the eggs or starch into a creamy, moist texture as it bakes.
- Cracker crumbs
- Crisp topping that browns in the oven and adds texture contrast.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness and helps the top brown.
The step that matters
Drain the macaroni well. Excess cooking water left on the pasta dilutes the milk or cream and can make the baked dish watery and loose rather than creamy.
“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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