Written on a wall @ Tisch/NYU | Main | PATRIOT Act Weiner
September 21, 2003
Love, Death, Macaroni & Cheese
I spent the afternoon at a very difficult funeral service. In an attempt to assuage some personal grief, I engaged in some minor retail therapy and purchased Chris Kimball's newest book, The Kitchen Detective: A Culinary Sleuth Solves Common Cooking Mysteries with 150 Foolproof Recipes.
Much to my delight, Kimball dedicates a page to "The Sad Story of Mac and Cheese."
My loved ones know that food from mixes cannot grace my kitchen. I was raised in a from scratch-biased household; from an early age I learned to determine the home baked from the store bought cookie, the fresh basil from its freeze dried and McCormick bottled counterpart. This has carried over into my adult life. While I still do love a Skippy peanut butter sandwich on Wonder Bread (two things that were forbidden in my childhood home), I do maintain a rather snobbish reaction to all things processed, boxed, or frozen (aside from ice cream).
And my biggest pet peeve is instant mac & cheese. I am appalled by those who can consume Kraft Macaroni and Cheese without a thought, or any other cheese-in-a-box/packet bastardization of pasta and cheese. The sad thing is that most people who vehemently support Krap Mac & Cheese would probably be converted upon tasting the yummy goodness of real four cheese pasta.
Oh, but it takes so much time, one might say. Pisk pisk. Homemade macaroni and cheese takes about 20 minutes. Drink a beer during the additional ten. Or, pop open a beer right now, sit back, and read up on the history of the cheesy pasta tradition...real and boxed.
A Brief History
Historians have records of Americans, including Thomas Jefferson, eating macaroni and cheese in the 18th century. Cookbooks from the 1880's through early 1900s include various recipes, mostly consisting of pasta with white sauce and a layer of cheese. The popularity of mac & cheese, however, did not surge until the Depression.
Kraft's "official" explanation for the invention of its famous cheese is:
J. L. Kraft's 1916 patent for process cheese took Kraft from a commodity business with many competitors to an innovator with a unique food product that effectively responded to consumers' need for a more consistent product with a longer shelf life.
Translation: L.J. Kraft obtained a patent in 1916 for a processed cheese formula that would not spoil. According to Kimball, the idea did not sell well and Kraft wound up selling 6 million pounds of the powdered processed cheese to the U.S. Army. Apparently, the soldiers developed a taste for it. While they were gone, Kraft was also selling a boxed version of the instant macaroni and cheese to families. Kraft's popularity rose as, it being wartime, the product only required one ration coupon.
To make a long story short, Kraft Mac & Cheese managed to win over a large population of adults as well as an even larger population of children. And as the generations have gone on, we have forgotten what real home cooked food tastes like.
Have you forgotten? Hopefully not. Making instant mac and cheese is cheaper, you say. And your rent is due soon so get off your back. Come over to my house. I will make you some real macaroni and cheese. You will never return to Krap.
Posted by callalillie at September 21, 2003 7:10 PM | Food , Rabid Rants
Sorry to hear that. Strange how in a short span of time that there is a loss and then the birth of twins - the cycle of life?
Posted by: David at September 22, 2003 12:37 AM
Most definitely. The world is full of wonders.
Posted by: callalillie at September 22, 2003 8:32 AM
First off, I'm very sorry for your loss.
Secondly, I try to avoid anything with the Kraft label anyway, what with its being owned by Altria, née Philip Morris, and all, and while I have had the real deal with regard to mac & cheese and agree it's better, the little gene whispering, "It's conveeeenient, conveeeenient," in my ear can be difficult to ignore.
Not terribly surprising origins of the stuff; god knows there were a number of culinary atrocities inflicted by necessity on the U.S. during the Depression and WWII.
Posted by: Ashley at September 22, 2003 8:59 AM
Come over to my house. I will make you some real macaroni and cheese. You will never return to Krap.
is that an open invitation? because i'm positive that you'd be appalled if i told you how much of that kraft easy mac i've eaten in the past few years..
Posted by: rachelleb at September 22, 2003 4:47 PM
somehow i get the feeling that there will be a long line forming at my door as a result of that comment...
rachelleb, i must admit that i've learned to hold my snobbiness at bay around people in regard to boxed cheese...my roommate is a frequent victim of the pasta and powder. except she eat organic instant mac and cheese, which makes even less sense to me.
ashley-- you know, i heard that kraft was owned by phillip morris...when i was writing this i looked for a link to support it but had trouble finding it...thoughi didn't look very long.
tip for making homemade mac and cheese EASIER: make a huge batch and reheat it as needed :P
Posted by: callalillie at September 22, 2003 7:36 PM
To start, http://www.philipmorris.com/. Follow the link to altria.com in the final paragraph and note the "Learn More About Us" section in the lower right hand corner. The "parent company" noted in that final paragraph was, of course, Philip Morris, "Philip Morris USA" and "Philip Morris International" being subsidiaries of the parent. A bit misleading, the obvious (and all but flat-out stated) intent being to distance one subsidiary from the other, at least in the public's eye.
Would that be Annie's mac & organic powder of which your roomie partakes?
Posted by: Ashley at September 22, 2003 10:06 PM
maybe you could post a recipe & cooking instructions.. i'd be game for trying it out.. that would also cut down on the number people on that line at your door :)
my old roommate used to eat annie's organic mac n cheese mix.. i never really understood it either. if you're going to stoop to that level you may as well just get kraft and not try to fancy it up to make yourself feel better.
Posted by: rachelle at September 23, 2003 9:10 AM
Good idea. I will post several in the coming days...maybe I should put out an open invitation for the submission of favorite recipes, to all be put together into a Krap Mac & Cheese Intervention Kit.
:P
Or maybe, when I move into my new place, I'll set up an Purist Mac & Cheese Soup Kitchen. Oooh....now I'm hungry.
Posted by: callalillie at September 23, 2003 9:30 AM
i actually don't like mac and cheese. something about the smell. the fact that it was kraft probably didn't help.
Posted by: tien at September 23, 2003 12:09 PM
Mmm, mac 'n' cheese. I have to say this is one of those foods that I like even when it's bad--I love it homemade, but I also enjoy it from a mix (I do get Annie's Organic when I go mix-y, because (a) it contains less plastic than the Kraft shit, and (b) Kraft is scary). It's like the difference between a real piece of cake and a Hostess cupcake: each has its moments of appropriateness. They occupy separate but nearby thrones in the comfort-food pantheon.
Anyway, this really makes me want to have a mac 'n' cheese party. Bring on the recipes!
Posted by: India at September 23, 2003 12:37 PM
holy smokes.. tien. 1) this is like the twilight zone. 2) how can you not like mac n cheese? maybe you'll be converted by trying homemade mac n cheese.. especially if we were to promise key lime pie as dessert
Posted by: rachelleb at September 23, 2003 1:47 PM
yes, annie's. and i must say, i've tasted it and it tastes like cheese glue.
thank god it's not vegan organic mac and cheese mix. vegan "cheese" is ick.
Posted by: callalillie at September 23, 2003 1:51 PM
key lime pie is strong enough a draw to cause me to eat almost any food i don't like.
Posted by: tien at September 24, 2003 12:01 AM
