Mac’n’Cheese Anyone?

When most people think of America's favorite comfort food, they think of Mac and Cheese. However, the dish's origins are not as simple as one might think. Any Google or YouTube search will reveal that the dish was invented by the third president, Thomas Jefferson. That is, however, not technically correct. The recipe has been consumed in Italy since the 14th-15th centuries. According to the Liber de Coquina cookbook, medieval Italians cooked pasta with grated cheese. You can find variations of the recipe throughout Europe.

It wasn't until 1780 that Jefferson encountered the meal on a trip to Europe and began bringing the components back to the United States. On that journey to Europe, Jefferson's enslaved chef, James Hemmings, also had the dish and is uncredited with cooking it for Jefferson's visitors. Chef James Hemmings was trained in five-star French kitchens under Jefferson's direction to oversee the cuisine at Jefferson's home. Chef Hemmings brought his African heritage to meals in addition to French skills. As a result, he developed a cooking style that inspired American cuisine. The usage of dumbwaiters in the Jefferson family contributed to Chef Hemmings' erasure. Jefferson did this to limit the face-to-face interactions of his enslaved personnel with guests. The dish grew in popularity over time, and with the emergence of the industrial revolution, macaroni and cheese became available to everyone. It has since become a cultural mainstay in American cooking.

So, how does this relate to opera? Our 2023 Vanguard production, The Cook-Off, is a cooking competition in which contestants produce various variations of this dish for a monetary prize. During the opera, the contestants not only learn more about the dish but also about themselves.

Go here to discover more about the show. Click here to add The Cook-Off to your subscription package.

Works Cited

Okwemba, Tara. “The History of Slavery in the Cultivation of Mac & Cheese.” ArcGIS StoryMaps, Esri, 24 Dec. 2019, https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/03dbf30ccad245b0a505f18b18fb5e8c.