Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Conversation Bites The One True Recipe for Mac-and-Cheese
Posted by Dana Kopp Franklin on Wed, Nov 25, 2009 at 1:51 PM
With all due respect to a certain Bitester who starts her macaroni-and-cheese recipe by whipping up an easy béchamel sauce, I must point you to a post at sardonic blog The Awl titled Fundamentalist Macaroni and Cheese.
The title refers not to the kind of cheesy pasta that fundamentalists eat, but to the only righteous recipe for mac-and-cheese, with all others being an abomination.
Blogger Tom Scocca begins, "This is the recipe for macaroni and cheese. It is the only recipe there is for macaroni and cheese. Here is what goes into it:
1. macaroni
2. cheese.
It does also include butter and milk. Think of them as more cheese."
What do you think? Is Scocca right, or does the one true mac-and-cheese come in a blue box? Or does it require semi-stale breadcrumbs to sprinkle on top? Or is it spiked with green chilies a la Park Cafe? Let us know.
Comments (12)
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I'm one of those who thinks it needs a roux/bechamel and am reknowned my green chili mac though mine is not as good (or as fattening) as the Park Cafe.
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Park Cafe has the best mac and cheese I've ever had. And I've had a lot of mac and cheese. You would know this by looking at me.
A key question, what kind of macaroni (pasta) and what kind of cheese(s) as well as ones mad roni skills.
Depending on who's job it was that day, the Maytag Blue mac and cheese @ J Alexander's on White Bridge can be pretty damn good.
In my mac and cheese universe, the control is Stouffer's.
All that said, the bloggers knows of what he speaks.
Now I'm all hungry.
In my house, the one true recipe is the Alton Brown stovetop version. The cheese needs the hot sauce and dry mustard, other wise the cheese flavor is too flabby...
To me, mac & cheese must have cheddar (possibly with other real cheeses) and should never have even the tiniest bit of processed imitation cheese. So no american, no Velveeta, none of those abominations which don't count as cheese. Therefore, it must have a bit of roux or bechamel in which to begin melting the cheese, to ensure a smooth consistancy to the cheesy goodness. There should be much more cheese than white sauce, though. The cheese is the point of the thing, after all.
Yep, macaroni, cheese, butter, milk. A little bit of flour to stiffen it up a bit (I don't like mine too runny) and that's it.
Loonytick and I have the same idea. If you're using aged or other non-processed cheese, you have to have a medium for melting it or it curdles into clumps. Also needs some dry mustard and a pinch of ground red pepper. I occasionally beat and egg into the bechamel after the cheese, but only if I'm baking it.
For it to be true Mac & Cheese - it MUST be baked at some point. And, the only powdery substance should be flour - maybe some dry mustard. Want something really good, try Jacques Pepin's Penne au Gratin - leave out the tomatoes. It's a very nice twist on Mac & Cheese - my kids love it!
stovetop, bechamel, cheddar, more cheddar, no egg. Yup.
(Stouffer's is OK I guess, but the control? Really? :P )
