
A Brief History of America’s Appetite for Macaroni and Cheese - Vigier
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/brief-history-americas-appetite-for-macaroni-cheese-180969185/?no-ist
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keithpeter
" _To understand the evolution of macaroni and cheese is to realize that
pursuit of the “cheapest protein possible” has been a longstanding quest of
the American food system._ "

UK: The need for the cheapest and quickest calories post War resulted in the
Chorleywood Process for making bread [1]. It served its purpose, but we are
still recovering.

Africa: groundnut / peanut soup again filling bellies and adding some protein
to a thin broth if meat was short [2]

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chorleywood_bread_process](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chorleywood_bread_process)

[2]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peanut_soup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peanut_soup)

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lovich
What is the UK recovering from with the Chorleywood process? I saw nothing
about issues with it on the Wikipedia page

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chrisseaton
I think the author of the comment just has a subjective preference against the
taste and texture.

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keithpeter
To be fair, it is possible to use the Chorleywood process to make loaves that
look pretty rustic and taste OK, but your basic white sliced loaf tastes of
nothing much.

A quick search reveals no known evaluation of the Chorleywood process by any
authoritative agency in the UK (e.g. Food Standards Agency). Andrew Whitley
has expressed concern over the use of directly injected enzymes that do not
appear on packaging. There was some stuff in the press about linking
Chorleywood process to 'bloating' but that was debunked fairly quickly (around
2012 I recollect)

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jacobkg
I highly recommend buying some Sodium Citrate (available on Amazon) and making
some Perfectly Melting Mac n Cheese.

[http://modernistcuisine.com/recipes/silky-smooth-macaroni-
an...](http://modernistcuisine.com/recipes/silky-smooth-macaroni-and-cheese/)

~~~
xxpor
First result on Amazon for Sodium Citrate: Non-GMO. Unbelievable.

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mynameishere
"cheapest protein possible"

Okay. I always figured that ambition went sloping downward along the lines of
"Hormel SPAM to Armour Treet Original Luncheon Loaf to Tender Vittles to
Libby's Potted Meat Food Product." You can always find something cheaper in
the categories of "Material formerly regulated as cheese" or "Material
formerly regulated as meat". It doesn't have to contain a particular noodle.

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megaman22
Spam is unfairly lambasted. It's actually pretty solid ham shoulder

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JackCh
Furthermore I wouldn't call it cheap. If you want a cheap breakfast meat,
sausage meat is _significantly_ cheaper. Spam being shelf-stable often makes
it worth the price though; I love it when camping.

~~~
megaman22
I love Spam in general. It's a fantastic breakfast meat. Short of ham steak,
there's nothing better.

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mromanuk
A serving portion of Mac and Cheese has roughly 40gr of carbs, 10gr of
protein. A portion of beef/chicken is 20-30gr of protein. Looks like a source
of carbs (energy) more like a protein source to me. Maybe when you add the
price, the equation change.( I mean the price per protein gr.)

~~~
maxerickson
If you are shopping on price, the carbs in the macaroni are a feature. Chicken
is a good source of protein but doesn't really deliver the calories per
dollar. It's something like 250 calories/dollar at Walmart prices vs 1600
calories/dollar for pasta (varies sharply based on price of pasta, but it is
$1 a pound regularly enough).

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JackCh
> _" Chicken is a good source of protein but doesn't really deliver the
> calories per dollar."_

Throw in some breading and ketchup and you'll give yourself diabetes lickety-
split.

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maxerickson
Breaded macaroni and cheese sounds bad with or without ketchup.

I suspect the diabetes is more related to _excess_ calories and sedentary
lifestyles than it is due to macro diet composition. Of course diet
composition has an impact on achieving those excess calories, but that's an
indirect effect.

~~~
JackCh
I'm referring to the practice of eating breaded chicken ("nuggets" and/or
"fingers"/"tenders") with copious amounts of ketchup.

I think a lot of people have a blindspot to the nutrition of condiments, they
view it as something neutral like a little bit of black pepper. Or in the
specific case of ketchup, they think it counts as a vegetable. But the truth
is ketchup is basically just a bunch of sugar. For the same volume it has
something like half the calories of maple syrup. You wouldn't scarf down half
a cup of maple syrup with your dinner, but I've seen people practically drink
the equivalent in ketchup. I doubt it's healthy no matter how active you are.

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samatman
Satay sauce is still tasty with all or nearly-all the jaggery left out, and
mayo, while high in fat (and cheap veggie oil fat, at that), is low carb.

^ For those who are looking for an alternative to a lake of ketchup to go with
their tendies

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cmurf
Cacio e pepe. Boil your pasta in salt water, it's particularly good with
homemade noodles. Use grated pecorino romano or in a bind use parmesan, olive
oil, and lots of cracked pepper. I put in 2-3 tablespoons of the pasta water
before putting the strained but still wet and hot pasta - and then stir the
crap out of all of it. The cheese oil and water emulsify into a sauce. But
only if it's all hot and wet - otherwise you won't get a sauce. It helps if
the bowl you're mixing it in is preheated. Seriously you stir the crap out of
the pasta, as fast as you can, it seems like you'd tear your noodles
especially if they're homemade. Do it anyway. It should come together in less
than a minute.

I grew up on Kraft Mac & Cheese. If I ever get a craving for that, I buy
Annie's shells and real aged cheddar. I make it with olive oil, diced tomatos,
cottage cheese and pepper. Sometimes I'll put in 505 green chiles instead of
tomatoes.

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dghughes
Macaroni and Cheese is referred to in Canada Kraft Dinner I used to eat it at
least twice per week. It's changed so much it's the Theseus of pasta since the
only two ingredients, the noodles and cheese powder, were changed but it's
still called Kraft Dinner.

The macaroni used to be hard durum wheat now it's somehow formed, not pressed,
you can even see the seam on the edge of each noodle. I used to boil it on a
rolling boil for seven minutes to get it just barely soft but after Kraft
switched the wheat type the noodles turn to mush in a little over a minute.

The cheese has changed too I think it was due to EU regulations or pressure by
consumers for it to be less artificial. Whatever was done has changed the
cheese so much I don't bother eating it anymore.

It's easier to just buy durum wheat macaroni and some real cheddar cheese to
make a better version.

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bthrn
> Macaroni and Cheese is referred to in Canada Kraft Dinner

Perhaps a little patriotic of me but it’s shocking you talk about Canadian
Kraft Dinner without calling it KD.

~~~
cylinder714
"Kraft Dinners: the national dish of Canada, and the salvation of that
country's poor." \--from David Boswell's _Reid Fleming: World 's Toughest
Milkman_

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stygiansonic
Fun fact: Jefferson had macaroni and cheese (or something akin to it) served
at a state dinner he hosted in 1802:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macaroni_and_cheese#American_h...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macaroni_and_cheese#American_history)

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nasredin
Eh, the writing is not that good.

Not a lot of history either.

Reads like a column in your local paper.

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grendelt
Yeah, the unnecessary inclusion of his cheese road trip and awkward crashing
at a friend's place in the middle of a divorce was pretty odd. Save the human
angle and focus on this history. It's far more interesting to the reader.

