Mac and Cheese History Part 2
Courtesy of the Library of Congress
Working-class Italian cooks in Europe get the credit for making macaroni and cheese popular today. Macaroni and cheese had become quite popular in nineteenth century Europe where it appeared on menus as Macaroni with cheese, Macaroni au Parmesan, Macaroni a la creme, Macaroni a la Napolitaine, Macaronia l’Italienne, and baked macaroni. It became popular in the United States in a series of steps: At the turn of the century, Italian immigrants migrated to the Mississippi Delta as agricultural workers introducing pasta to their African American neighbors and co-workers; Italian entrepreneurs running grocery stores in the Delta sold pasta and later converted stores into groceries and eateries that served inexpensive Italian pasta dishes; During the Great Depression FDR’s National Release Agency distributed free cheese as part of its food relief programs that cooks used to inexpensive make mac and cheese that had eaten in local Italian eateries; mac and cheese made it on the menus of boarding houses, trains with dining cars, and other popular eating spaces.
