Macaroni and cheese facts for kids
Macaroni and cheese, often called mac and cheese, is a yummy dish from England. It's made with cooked macaroni pasta and a creamy cheese sauce. Most often, people use Cheddar cheese. Sometimes, other things like breadcrumbs, meat, or vegetables are added to make it even tastier!
You can bake traditional macaroni and cheese in an oven, like a casserole. But you can also make it on the stove in a pot. Many people use a packaged mix for a quick meal. The cheese sauce is often made by adding cheese to a creamy white sauce called Béchamel sauce. In the United States, many people think of mac and cheese as a comfort food. This means it's a food that makes you feel good and happy.
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History of Mac and Cheese
People have been making pasta and cheese dishes for a very long time! One of the oldest cookbooks, Liber de Coquina from the 1300s in Italy, had a recipe for pasta with Parmesan cheese.
Another old English cookbook from the 1300s, The Forme of Cury, also had a cheese and pasta dish called makerouns. This dish used fresh, handmade pasta with melted butter and cheese layered together. The recipe said to:
"Make a thin foil of dough and cut it in pieces. Put them in boiling in water and seethe them well. Grate cheese and add it with butter beneath and above as with losyns [a dish similar to lasagne], and serve."
The first modern recipe for macaroni and cheese appeared in 1770. It was in a book called The Experienced English Housekeeper by Elizabeth Raffald. Her recipe used a creamy cheese sauce (like a Mornay sauce) mixed with macaroni. Then, it was topped with Parmesan cheese and baked until golden and bubbly.
Another recipe from 1784 suggested boiling macaroni, draining it, and then adding heavy cream and butter. It was cooked for five minutes, then topped with toasted Parmesan and pepper. Even the famous British cookbook Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management from the Victorian era had recipes for this dish. One recipe said the macaroni should be "tender but perfectly firm." It was then topped with more cheese, pepper, breadcrumbs, and melted butter, and browned.
In the United Kingdom, macaroni and cheese became very popular in the 2010s. You can now find it everywhere, from fast food places to fancy restaurants.
Mac and Cheese in America
The American president Thomas Jefferson loved macaroni and cheese! He discovered macaroni in Paris with his chef, James Hemings. Jefferson even drew pictures of the pasta and wrote notes on how it was made. In 1793, he tried to buy a machine to make pasta. Later, he imported both macaroni and Parmesan cheese for his home.
In 1802, President Jefferson served "a pie called macaroni" at a special dinner. Since then, baked macaroni and cheese has been a favorite in the United States.
A recipe for "macaroni and cheese" also appeared in an American cookbook in 1824. It was called The Virginia Housewife by Mary Randolph. Her recipe was simple: just macaroni, cheese, and butter, layered and baked. This cookbook was very important in the 1800s.
As factories started making pasta and cheese, the dish became cheaper and easier to make. This meant more people could enjoy it. Macaroni and cheese is still a very popular pasta for kids today!
Mac and Cheese in Canada
British people who moved to Canada brought macaroni and cheese with them. Recipes for it have been found in Canadian cookbooks since at least 1845. These early recipes sometimes used fancy ingredients like puff pastry and special cheeses.
Today, macaroni and cheese is super popular in Canada. The most famous brand of packaged mac and cheese there is Kraft Dinner. Some people even think Kraft Dinner is Canada's national dish, even more so than poutine!
Different Ways to Make Mac and Cheese
You don't always have to use macaroni noodles! Many other short pasta shapes work well. Pastas with folds or pockets are great because they hold more cheese sauce. Even if you use a different pasta, people still often call it "macaroni and cheese." But if you use Conchiglie (shell-shaped pasta), it's sometimes called "shells and cheese."
While Cheddar cheese is most common, you can use other cheeses too. Strong-flavored cheeses work best. Many recipes use two or more cheeses mixed together. Popular choices include Gruyere, Gouda, Havarti, and Parmesan.
Some people make macaroni and cheese by just layering slices of cheese and pasta. They might add butter or evaporated milk, then bake it. To make baked mac and cheese extra crunchy, you can add bread crumbs or crushed crackers on top. This also stops the top noodles from drying out.
You might find deep-fried macaroni and cheese at fairs or food carts as a fun treat. In Scotland, you can even find it inside a pastry shell, called a macaroni pie. Macaroni and cheese pizza is also a thing, found on recipe websites and some restaurant menus.
A similar dish in Switzerland is called Älplermagronen. It's made with macaroni, cream, cheese, and roasted onions. Sometimes it also has potatoes, bacon, or ham. It's often served with apple sauce.
You can add many extra ingredients to mac and cheese to make it unique! Some popular additions are bacon, jalapeños, tomatoes, onions, leeks, Tabasco sauce, mushrooms, ham, ground beef, sliced hot dogs, Spam, lobster, canned tuna or salmon, peas, and broccoli.
Packaged Mac and Cheese Mixes
You can buy macaroni and cheese already made in the frozen food section. Or, you can get boxed mixes that make it easy to prepare at home. Brands like Boston Market, Michelina's, Kraft, and Stouffer's are well-known for these.
Many boxed mixes are made on the stove or in a microwave oven. The most famous one is Kraft Dinner (called Kraft Macaroni & Cheese in the US). It first came out in 1937. Its slogan was "make a meal for four in nine minutes." It became very popular during the Great Depression because it was cheap and easy to make. During World War II, when food was rationed, it became even more popular.
Boxed mixes usually have uncooked pasta and either a liquid cheese sauce or powdered cheese. For the powdered cheese, you mix it with milk or water, and butter or oil, then add it to the cooked noodles. Some microwave mixes cook the pasta right in the sauce.
You can also buy jarred macaroni cheese sauce, which is popular in the UK and US. You cook the pasta separately, then mix it with the heated sauce. Some companies even sell just the powdered cheese sauce by itself, similar to what's in the boxed mixes.
See also
In Spanish: Macarrones con queso para niños
