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Macaroni and Cheese

 
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Macaroni and cheese
 
 
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Macaroni and cheese (also referred to as macaroni cheese or mac 'n' cheese in parts of the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 and Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
) was created to be a common casserole
Casserole

A casserole, from the French language for "saucepan," is a large, deep pot or dish used both in the oven and as a serving dish. The word casserole is also used for the food cooked and served in such a dish....
, similar to the British dish cauliflower cheese
Cauliflower cheese

Cauliflower cheese, sometimes called cauliflower and cheese, is a British dish usually eaten as a main course for lunch or dinner. It is similar to macaroni cheese, though using cauliflower instead of macaroni....
. The main ingredients of macaroni and cheese are cooked macaroni
Macaroni

Macaroni is a kind of moderately extended, machine-made dry pasta. Much shorter than spaghetti, and hollow, macaroni does not contain eggs. Though home machines exist that can make macaroni noodles, macaroni is usually commercially made....
 (often termed elbow macaroni in the US) and a cheese
Cheese

Cheese is a food consisting of proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cattle, Water Buffalo, goats, or sheep's milk. It is produced by Coagulation of the milk protein casein....
 sauce
Sauce

In cooking, a sauce is liquid or sometimes semi-solid food served on or used in preparing other foods. Sauces are not normally consumed by themselves; they add flavor, moisture, and visual appeal to another dish....
, usually made from cheddar cheese
Cheddar cheese

Cheddar cheese is a relatively hard, pale-yellow to off-white, and sometimes sharp-tasting cheese originating in the English village of Cheddar, in Somerset....
. The cheese sauce is generally either made in the fashion of Mornay sauce
Mornay sauce

A Mornay sauce is a B?chamel sauce with shredded or grated cheese added. Usually, it is half Gruy?re cheese and half Parmesan cheese, though some variations use different combinations of Gruy?re, Emmental cheese, or white cheddar cheese....
, or as a custard
Custard

Custard is a range of preparations based on milk and Egg s, thickened with heat. Most commonly, custard refers to a dessert or dessert sauce, but custard bases are also used for quiches and other savoury foods....
 base with added cheese.

Packaged versions are available, consisting of boxed pasta and a cheese powder, to which are added butter
Butter

Butter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermentation cream or milk. It is generally used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications such as baking, sauce making, and frying....
 (or margarine
Margarine

Margarine , as a generic term, can indicate any of a wide range of butter substitutes. In many parts of the world, margarine has become the best-selling table spread, although butter and olive oil also command large market shares....
) and milk
Milk

Milk is an opaque white liquid produced by the mammary glands of female mammals . It provides the primary source of nutrition for newborn mammals before they are able to digestion other types of food....
 (or water
Water

Water is a common chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of life. In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or States of matter, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor or steam....
).






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Macaroni and cheese (also referred to as macaroni cheese or mac 'n' cheese in parts of the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 and Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
) was created to be a common casserole
Casserole

A casserole, from the French language for "saucepan," is a large, deep pot or dish used both in the oven and as a serving dish. The word casserole is also used for the food cooked and served in such a dish....
, similar to the British dish cauliflower cheese
Cauliflower cheese

Cauliflower cheese, sometimes called cauliflower and cheese, is a British dish usually eaten as a main course for lunch or dinner. It is similar to macaroni cheese, though using cauliflower instead of macaroni....
. The main ingredients of macaroni and cheese are cooked macaroni
Macaroni

Macaroni is a kind of moderately extended, machine-made dry pasta. Much shorter than spaghetti, and hollow, macaroni does not contain eggs. Though home machines exist that can make macaroni noodles, macaroni is usually commercially made....
 (often termed elbow macaroni in the US) and a cheese
Cheese

Cheese is a food consisting of proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cattle, Water Buffalo, goats, or sheep's milk. It is produced by Coagulation of the milk protein casein....
 sauce
Sauce

In cooking, a sauce is liquid or sometimes semi-solid food served on or used in preparing other foods. Sauces are not normally consumed by themselves; they add flavor, moisture, and visual appeal to another dish....
, usually made from cheddar cheese
Cheddar cheese

Cheddar cheese is a relatively hard, pale-yellow to off-white, and sometimes sharp-tasting cheese originating in the English village of Cheddar, in Somerset....
. The cheese sauce is generally either made in the fashion of Mornay sauce
Mornay sauce

A Mornay sauce is a B?chamel sauce with shredded or grated cheese added. Usually, it is half Gruy?re cheese and half Parmesan cheese, though some variations use different combinations of Gruy?re, Emmental cheese, or white cheddar cheese....
, or as a custard
Custard

Custard is a range of preparations based on milk and Egg s, thickened with heat. Most commonly, custard refers to a dessert or dessert sauce, but custard bases are also used for quiches and other savoury foods....
 base with added cheese.

Packaged versions are available, consisting of boxed pasta and a cheese powder, to which are added butter
Butter

Butter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermentation cream or milk. It is generally used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications such as baking, sauce making, and frying....
 (or margarine
Margarine

Margarine , as a generic term, can indicate any of a wide range of butter substitutes. In many parts of the world, margarine has become the best-selling table spread, although butter and olive oil also command large market shares....
) and milk
Milk

Milk is an opaque white liquid produced by the mammary glands of female mammals . It provides the primary source of nutrition for newborn mammals before they are able to digestion other types of food....
 (or water
Water

Water is a common chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of life. In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or States of matter, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor or steam....
). Extra ingredients, like ground beef
Ground beef

Ground beef, beef mince or hamburger meat , or mince meat is a ground meat product, made of beef finely chopped by a meat grinder....
, ketchup
Ketchup

Ketchup, also known as tomato ketchup, tomato sauce, red sauce is a condiment, usually made from tomatoes. The primary ingredients in a typical modern ketchup are tomato concentrate, spirit vinegar, milk, corn syrup, or other sugar, edible salt, spice and herb extracts , spice and garlic powder....
, jalapeņos, sliced hot dog
Hot dog

A hot dog is a type of fully cooked, curing and/or Smoking moist sausage of soft, even texture and flavor. It is usually placed hot in a soft, sliced hot dog bun of approximately the same length as the sausage, and optionally garnished with condiments and toppings....
s, ham
Ham

Ham is the thigh and rump of pork, cut from the haunch of a pig or boar. Although it may be cooked and served fresh, most ham is Curing in some fashion....
, bacon
Bacon

Bacon is a cut of meat taken from the sides, belly, or back of a pig, then Curing , Smoking , or both. Meat from other animals, such as beef, Lamb and mutton, chicken, goat, or turkey , may also be cut, cured, or otherwise prepared to resemble bacon....
, tuna
Tuna

Tuna are several species of ocean-dwelling fish in the family Scombridae, mostly in the genus Thunnus. Tunas are fast swimmers?they have been clocked at 70 km/h ?and include several species that are warm-blooded....
, tomato
Tomato

The Tomato is an herbaceous, usually sprawling plant in the Solanaceae or nightshade family, as are its close cousins Nicotiana, potatoes, aubergine , chilli peppers, and the poisonous Atropa belladonna....
es, and other vegetable
Vegetable

The term "vegetable" generally means the Eating parts of plants. The definition of the word is traditional rather than scientific, however, and therefore the usage of the word is somewhat arbitrary and subjective, as it is determined by individual cultural customs of food selection and food preparation....
s are sometimes incorporated into the dish, such as in the Kraft Dinner
Kraft Dinner

Kraft Dinner, also known as KD, Kraf Dinner, Kraft Mac n' Cheese, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, or Kraft Macaroni & Cheese Dinner is a pasta dish of macaroni and cheese that is produced by the Kraft Foods company....
 product. The product can be prepared in a microwave
Microwave oven

A microwave oven, or a microwave, is a kitchen appliance that cookings or heats food by dielectric heating. This is accomplished by using microwave radiation to heat water and other dipole within the food....
, baked in traditional oven, or cooked on a kitchen stove
Kitchen stove

A kitchen stove, cooker or cookstove is a kitchen appliance designed for the purpose of cooking food. Kitchen stoves rely on the application of heat transfer#Conduction for the cooking process and may also contain an oven, used for baking....
 top.

While a favorite of children, it also, in some forms, appeals to sophisticated palates.

History

The exact origins of macaroni and cheese are unknown, but it is believed that the dish has its origins in Italy in the 14th century after Marco Polo
Marco Polo

Marco Polo was a trader and exploration from the Venetian Republic who gained fame for his worldwide travels, recorded in the book Il Milione also known as Oriente Poliano and the Description of the World....
 returned from the Orient with macaroni
Macaroni

Macaroni is a kind of moderately extended, machine-made dry pasta. Much shorter than spaghetti, and hollow, macaroni does not contain eggs. Though home machines exist that can make macaroni noodles, macaroni is usually commercially made....
. The dish spread throughout Europe in many various forms, and was brought to the American colonies by English settlers. By the eighteenth century, various versions of the meal were well known all over Europe.

Its popularity in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 has been attributed to Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States , the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence , and one of the most influential Founding Fathers of the United States for his promotion of the ideals of republicanism in the United States....
 serving it at a White House
White House

The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., it was built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the late Georgian architecture and has been the executive residence of every U.S....
 dinner in 1802, although a spontaneous and diffuse appearance of the dish is more likely.

See also

  • , commentary on NPR
    National Public Radio

    National Public Radio is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national Radio syndication to 797 public radio List of NPR stations in the United States....
    's News & Notes program by Joseph C. Phillips
    Joseph C. Phillips

    Joseph Connor Phillips is an United States actor and a conservative, Christian commentator and writer. He is the son of Dr. Clarence Phillips, a Denver pediatrician....
    , aired November 8, 2006 (retrieved Nov. 9, 2006) Phillips riles against the "orange chemistry experiment
    Kraft Dinner

    Kraft Dinner, also known as KD, Kraf Dinner, Kraft Mac n' Cheese, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, or Kraft Macaroni & Cheese Dinner is a pasta dish of macaroni and cheese that is produced by the Kraft Foods company....
    ". Contrary to the title, no history is provided, only stories reflecting peoples' pride in their own mac and cheese.
  • Steingarten, Jeffrey
    Jeffrey Steingarten

    Jeffrey Steingarten is an United States lawyer and Food critic. He is a regular columnist for Vogue magazine. He has also written for Slate ....
     (1997). The Man Who Ate Everything. New York: Vintage. ISBN 0-375-70202-4. The chapter, "Back of the Box", was first published in 1992.