The marvelous mac and cheese: How old is this culinary delight?
Who doesn't love macaroni and cheese? People of all ages across the world love to wolf down a steaming bowl of pasta with melted cheese that can make everything in the world feel right, isn’t it? Mac and cheese is a dish of cooked macaroni pasta with cheddar cheese sauce. It is known as mac and cheese in the United States and macaroni cheese in the United Kingdom. Mac and cheese is loved due to its affordable price, quick cook time, satisfying, yummy taste and the comfort that it gives you, cheering you up you on a bad day. In addition, you can make changes and add seasonings that appeal to your taste buds, making it truly versatile.
But that your beloved mac and cheese might not have originally been the way you relish it today. What's the story behind its origin and popularity? Let's find out.
The journey of mac and cheese through the pages of time
The roots of Mac and cheese can be traced all the way to Italy, home to many culinary delights like pizzas, lasagna, and what not. Gourmet historians consider the ‘De Lasagna’ recipe in the Italian cookbook ‘Liber de Coquina’, from the 13th century as the first mention of a macaroni and cheese dish.
The combination of mac and cheese was part of routine cuisine for hundreds of years in Italy. The first recorded macaroni and cheese recipe was created in the 13th century at the court of the King of Naples, according to Clifford Wright, the famous cook, and author of Mediterranean food history. The first English-language cookbook reference appeared in celebrated English author, Elizabeth Raffald's The Experienced English Housekeeper in 1769.
The dish mac and cheese was brought from Italy to America by Thomas Jefferson who brought a pasta machine during his travel to France. He regularly ordered and used the term ‘macaroni’ for all types of pasta and served the dish during a state dinner in 1802.
Walter Gerber and Fritz Stettler, two Swiss food scientists, are credited with creating processed cheese which is largely used in mac and cheese today. In 1913, they attempted to use sodium citrate to extend the shelf life of Emmentaler cheese. However, they observed that the treated cheese melted more quickly when heated. That’s how the cheesy sauce got invented!
The first boxed cheese
The first processed cheese patent was given to Chicago cheese seller James L. Kraft (Canadian-American entrepreneur) in 1916. Kraft was aware of the rotting issue of cheese and explored several solutions. He tried packing it in tin foil, canning it, and sealing it in jars. At some point, he understood that the bacteria that allowed the cheese to age was the one that finally rendered it spoilt as well. The boon was the bane!
To solve this issue, he took some cheddar cheese scraps, boiled them to remove the bacteria, then mashed them up with sodium phosphate as an emulsifier. Thus, he produced the first packaged cheese we all can’t live without today!
An affordable staple during the Great Depression
Kraft released packaged macaroni and cheese amidst the Great Depression in 1937. The Great Depression, that lasted from 1929-1939, was the worst period of economic downturn in the history of the industrialized world. When Kraft introduced the four-serving boxed macaroni and cheese in 1937 it cost just 19 cents per box! Can you believe that? Its slogan was ‘Make a meal for four in nine minutes’. Due to its low cost, the product saw a remarkable increase in popularity with American consumers during World War II. In a single year, Kraft sold eight million boxes of the product. The U.S. Army was Kraft's first big client, purchasing more than six million pounds to feed soldiers during World War II.