Mac and Cheese: One of life's simple pleasures

Photo credit: dalboz17

Macaroni and cheese is like the gateway drug into the world of pasta. Think about it. Most people fall in love with this savory dish as children long before they're really aware of what pasta is, and it's when they get older that their palates begin to develop a taste for more sophisticated fare such as fettucine alfredo, gnocci, and spaghetti bolognese. But that's not to say that mac and cheese is the Plain Jane of pasta dishes; the simple amalgamation of noodles and cheese can be utterly divine and oftentimes all you really need, which explains why macaroni and cheese is often thought of as comfort food. Here's the skinny on the classic dish:

• It has been rumored that President Thomas Jefferson created the dish that we today know as macaroni and cheese after he designed a macaroni machine. Jefferson biographer Jack MacLaughlin refutes this claim, stating that Jefferson merely duplicated a recipe he had enjoyed while in France. While it's hard to determine just how mac and cheese originated, this Jefferson story seems to be the most popular explanation.

• There's a restaurant in Manhattan's East Village named S'MAC that serves nothing but macaroni and cheese. Yes, they do deliver.

• Kraft Macaroni & Cheese was first introduced in 1937, and its popularity at the time can partially be attributed to the rationing of milk and dairy during World War II. Kraft says that now they sell over one million boxes a day!

• There's a Mac and Cheese Love Flickr group! Talk about your food porn.

• Like with a lot of things, there's a science to making good mac and cheese. I'll let my man Alton Brown of Good Eats explain how to go about it.



Here's Part 2 of the episode.

Coupez le fromage? Quoi?

Photo credit: Monday Morning Photography

Take a moment to think about the phrase "cut the cheese." Be honest; did you laugh to yourself, even if just for a little bit? Of course you did! No matter what anyone says, jokes about passing gas will never stop being funny. Now think about why your mind automatically thought of flatulence as opposed to a knife slicing through a block of cheese, as depicted above. You can't quite figure it out, can you? While most native English speakers know the saying, it's doubtful that more than a handful are aware of how it came about in the first place. Well, it's time to fix that! That's right, we're going to put on our etymology hats and try to figure out how "cut the cheese" and other oft-used cheese-related sayings became part of our vernacular.

Cut the cheese: According to Cassell's Dictionary of Slang, the phrase most likely originated due to the fact that certain cheeses have the propensity to, well, stink. It apparently dates back to the 1970s, meaning that your grandparents weren't fortunate enough to be able to employ such a "celebrated" saying during their youth, unlike later generations.

Say Cheese: Why do we shout out "cheese!" while we're having our photos taken? The folks over at Ask Yahoo!, who are paid to answer such obscure questions, were unable to come up with a definitive answer, which leaves little hope of me being any more successful. That said, it's suggested that when you say "cheese", your mouth contorts in such a way that it looks like a smile. So, if you find yourself posing for a photo against your will, try saying "feta" instead. You'll look more glum that way, thus sabotaging the photographer's efforts.

Cheesy: If cheese tastes so good, why does the word in adjective form carry a negative connotation? The Online Etymology Dictionary says that in early 19th century British India, people adapted the Urdu word chiz, meaning "thing", in such a fashion where "cheese" was synonymous with "a big thing." But by the 1850s, the term had evolved to mean "showy", which later led to its modern day definition, as in, "This Journey power ballad sure is cheesy."

Cheesehead: I think that this photo says it all.