I cannot remember the first time I ate mac and cheese. I come from a very traditional Midwest meat-and-potatoes family cuisine — lots of brown on the plate! Having macaroni and cheese from the blue Kraft boxes added a little delightful orange-yellow touch to the plate and was always a treat. 

Karima Moyer-Nocci has written a new book, “The Epic History of Macaroni and Cheese.” The author is a culinary historian and the author of “The Eternal Table,” an introduction to the history of food in Rome. She teaches at the University of Siena. Included in the book are historical recipes in original form. She attempts to answer the question of how a quasi-French dish left the skillful hands of Thomas Jefferson’s enslaved cooks and wound up being popular for millions of today’s cooks. According to Kraft, they sell 7 million boxes a week. 

Macaroni and cheese, according to the many sources that I researched, has ancient ties that date back to ancient Rome. In 160 BCE Marcus Porcius described a dish named “Placenta” in his work “De Agri Cultura.” It consisted of layers of cheese interspersed with sheets of dough. The dish began to gain traction across Europe in the 14th century. Records from the kitchen of King Richard include instructions for sheets of dough to be boiled, and then layered with cheese and butter. 

Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the Unites States, was an avid food enthusiast and is often credited with popularizing macaroni and cheese in America. In 1787, Jefferson wrote detailed notes on making macaroni, and he even commissioned a special pasta machine to be sent to him in America. Upon his return to the United States, Jefferson introduced macaroni and cheese to his guests at Monticello and at state dinners, helping to popularize the dish in America. It’s said that he served a macaroni pie at a state dinner in 1802, making it one of the earliest documented instances of macaroni and cheese being served in the United States. 

Boxed macaroni and cheese required finding a way to extend the shelf life of cheese. Some cheeses get better as they age, but once many reach their prime, they then tend to quickly go bad. Before household refrigeration became common (I still remember the iceman coming to our home with his large tongs holding the blocks of ice), many retailers would not stock cheese in the summer because of its short shelf life. 

The secret was processed cheese. In 1913, chemists Walter Gerber and Fritz Stettler developed a process to improve the shelf life of Emmenthaler cheese using sodium citrate. But it was salesman James L. Kraft that was awarded the first patent for processed cheese in 1916. He realized that the same bacteria that made cheese age nicely was also the bacteria that ultimately caused it to go bad. He took some cheddar cheese scraps, heated them to kill the bacteria, ground them with some sodium citrate as an emulsifier and Kraft cheese was born. 

Boxed macaroni and cheese debuted in 1937 and sold for 19 cents. It contained four servings, and its slogan was “Make a meal for four in nine minutes.” During COVID, Kraft Heinz was working around the clock to make macaroni and cheese as Americans were buying it in droves to sustain themselves while staying at home. 

My thanks to Meredith Howard from Columbia University Press for her assistance and permission to include the following recipe. 

Often called the queen of Southern cuisine, Edna Lewis, born in 1916, was the granddaughter of an emancipated slave. Her first cookbook was published in 1972. She later coauthored with a “The Gift of Southern Cooking” with Scott Peacock. This recipe is described as “creamier and richer than most, it will seem very loose when you take it from the oven but will thicken nicely after a brief rest.” 

Edna Lewis macaroni and cheese 

Will feed 10 

Ingredients 

• 1 3/4 cups (230 g) elbow macaroni
• 1 1/2 cups (150 g) extra sharp cheddar cheese cut into 1/2- inch (1.1 cm) cubes
• 2 Tbsp. plus one tsp all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 tsp. dry mustard
• 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
• 2/3 cup (160 mL) sour cream
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/3 cup (35 g) grated onion
• 1 1/2 cups (375 mL) half-and-half (10% milkfat cream)
• 1 1/2 cups (375 mL) heavy cream (36% milkfat cream)
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 2/3 cups (180 g) extra sharp cheddar cheese, grated 

Directions 

1. Cook the macaroni in a large pot of boiling salted water until just tender. Drain well, and transfer to a buttered 9 x 13-inch (22 x 33 cm) baking dish. Mix in the cubed cheddar cheese.
2. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
3. Put the flour, salt, mustard, black pepper, cayenne pepper and nutmeg in a large mixing bowl, and stir to blend. Add the sour cream, followed by the eggs, and stir with a wire whisk until blended and homogeneous. Whisk in the onion, half and half, heavy cream and Worcestershire sauce until blended. Pour this custard over the macaroni and cubed cheese, and stir to blend.
4. Sprinkle the grated cheese evenly over the surface of the custard. Bake until the custard is set around the edges of the baking dish but still a bit loose in the center, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven, and cool for 10 minutes to allow the custard to thicken.
5. Bon appétit! 

About

Lincoln Land Community College offers credit programs in Culinary Arts, Hospitality Management and Baking/Pastry, and non-credit cooking and food classes through LLCC Community Education.

Cooking or food questions? Email epicuriosity101@llcc.edu.