A Gooey and Delicious History of Mac and Cheese

A Gooey and Delicious History of Mac and Cheese, a Meal Once Fit for a King




Ever heard of the fabled land of Bengodi, where they roll macaroni noodles down a mountain of parmesan cheese, straight into your mouth?

https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/hist...and-cheese

The first modern recipe for macaroni and cheese was included in Elizabeth Raffald's 1769 book, The Experienced English Housekeeper. Raffald's recipe is for a Béchamel sauce with cheddar cheese—a Mornay sauce in French cooking—which is mixed with macaroni, sprinkled with Parmesan, and baked until bubbly and golden.

Who didn’t grow up eating Kraft Macaroni and Cheese? It is a go-to favorite of kids, picky eaters, broke college students, and busy families. Since the boxed dinner debuted in 1937, it has been one of America’s favorite comfort foods. Mac n cheese has been around longer than the 1930s, just not in a convenient and cheap box form. Let’s look at the history of this popular comfort food.

An Old Italian Dish

Food historians can trace the beginnings of macaroni and cheese back to thirteenth century Italy. In a text called the Liber de Coquina, we find the earliest written recipe for mac n cheese, written in Latin. The recipe called for macaroni pasta to be cooked in water and tossed with grated cheese…real cheese, not the bright orange powdered stuff that was to come.

Mac n Cheese in America, Theory Number One
https://historydaily.org/mac-n-cheese-th...mfort-food

Although popular legend claims Marco Polo introduced pasta to Italy following his exploration of the Far East in the late 13th century, pasta can be traced back as far as the 4th century B.C., where an Etruscan tomb showed a group of natives making what appears to be pasta.

The Chinese were making a noodle-like food as early as 3000 B.C.

https://sharethepasta.org/pasta-101/past...-of-pasta/

An alternative theory that has fallen out of favor is that pasta came to Italy via Greece, given that the origins of the name “pasta” seems to be Greek. The word ‘pasta’ itself comes from the Latin ‘pasta’ meaning ‘dough, pastry cake’ which probably came from the Greek word ‘pastos’ – ‘sprinkled with salt’, ‘salted’. Also, in ancient Greek mythology, there is a tale about the god Vulcan pushing dough through a device that converts it into thin, edible threads.  

https://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php...rom-italy/