MAC AND CHEESE IS BUTTERY, MELTY GOODNESS

In Saving Southern Recipes, Southern Kitchen’s Kate Williams explores the deep heritage of Southern cooking through the lens of passeddown, old family recipes.

Baked macaroni and cheese casseroles were likely the earliest form of the dish eaten in the South, and while the South was perhaps not the first region of the country serving macaroni and cheese, it was certainly made famous here.

In the late 18th century, Thomas Jefferson traveled to Europe with his slave and cook James Hemings. Jefferson tried a dish of pasta and cheese, and once back at Monticello, he had Hemings create a macaroni and cheese “pie,” inspired by dishes from their travels. This macaroni and cheese pie was popular enough that it was later served at an 1802 state dinner at the White House.

Early cookbook author Mary Randolf, whose brother was Jefferson’s son-in-law, included a similar dish in her 1824 cookbook, “The Virginia Housewife.” Given Randolf ’s connection to the former president, her recipe was likely at least inspired, if not totally lifted from Hemings, which makes him one of the very first creators of the dish we know and love today.

When macaroni and cheese first made its appearance in the South, both cheese and pasta were hard to come by, so the dish was generally served in elite households. By the Civil War, however, factories had begun manufacturing both cheese and pasta on a wider scale and recipes for mac and cheese began popping up as far west as Kansas and Missouri.

Southern Kitchen reader Karen Everhart bakes a macaroni and cheese recipe similar to these original versions, and it is indeed an old recipe. She wrote: “I’m 73 years old and, this was my grandmother’s recipe! It is requested by all of family — children and adults — every year!”

Her macaroni and cheese is made with egg noodles that are boiled until tender, and layered with sharp cheddar and butter, before being draped with a simple custard of eggs, milk, salt and pepper. A thick layer of sliced cheese melts over the top to create a melty neon orange top hat for each serving.

While I made some tweaks to Everhart’s macaroni and cheese, it still holds old-fashioned comfort-food appeal.

Do you have a beloved family recipe to share? Send a picture of the recipe card or a typed-out version of the recipe to kate@ southernkitchen.com.