Warm and Cheesy Made Easy

Image Gallery Susan Belsinger

All-American Macaroni and Cheese
South-of-the-Border Macaroni and Cheese
Veggie Macaroni and Cheese

A creamy, delicious aroma wafts through the house as a pan is taken from the oven. Family members and guests eagerly tuck in their napkins. The awaited dish couldn’t be more humble, or more scrumptious: homemade macaroni and cheese, enhanced with just enough special touches to take it from ordinary to Wow!

As the recipes here attest, there’s a reason mac ’n’ cheese tops the list of favorite comfort foods for many of us. Rich and flavorful, with a texture that’s easy on the mouth, it’s the kind of dish that can make a cook a star without requiring a daunting amount of labor.

Any type of pasta can become a comforting plate of goodness; macaroni just happens to be among America’s top choices. The term maccheroni in Italian refers to dried pasta made without egg; it comes in a variety of shapes. In North America, macaroni is generally used as a name for a tubular and bent noodle, also referred to as elbow macaroni. The first renditions of macaroni were cooked in water or broth, with cheese sprinkled on top. Macaroni in Italy is served more often with tomato sauce than au gratin (baked in a white sauce with cheese).

Some questions trouble the history of macaroni – namely, where it came from and who introduced it. The most popular version is that Marco Polo brought macaroni back from China in 1295. Food historian Clifford Wright believes the Arabs invented macaroni after they lived in Sicily, where wheat was cultivated. Macaroni shipments from Sicily to Genoa were recorded in the 1100s.

From there, maccheroni became a popular food in Italy. Italians perfected the art of macaroni making during the Renaissance, and it became a staple food, eventually spreading throughout Europe. English colonists brought it to the New World.

The first pasta factory opened in Philadelphia in the late 1700s. Even-tually, more factories opened and the price went down, allowing the working class to afford macaroni. Recipes were published in cookbooks of the 1800s.

Mac ’n’ cheese today

In 1937, Kraft Foods introduced a macaroni and cheese dinner in a box, and it quickly became a favorite American comfort food. Today, Kraft claims to sell a million boxes of macaroni and cheese dinners a day.

Americans love mac ’n’ cheese, as we affectionately call it. Macaroni and cheese is a culinary classic as well as a comfort food, but it’s full of calories and fat. Enjoy this legendary dish as a comfort food every now and then, whether it’s served as a warming winter supper or a special celebratory meal, but it may not be a food to be eaten on a regular basis.