Forget America: Mac and Cheese dates back to Boccaccio’s Decameron

The history of macaroni and cheese traces its origins to a medieval practice where pasta and grated cheese were enjoyed together, as documented in texts like the Liber de Coquina. This culinary pairing evolved into a recognized luxury item during the Renaissance. The dish crossed cultural boundaries through exchanges, with "makerouns" appearing in English manuscripts before becoming popular among 18th-century aristocrats dubbed "macaronis." Historical myths suggest Thomas Jefferson or James Hemings introduced the dish to America, but research indicates macaroni and cheese was circulating in the colonies prior to these figures. The popularization of the dish in the United States is attributed more to African American women cooks in the South. Commercial success arrived in 1937 with Kraft's boxed product, which transformed it into a mass-market food item. Today, mac and cheese exists in two forms: homemade versions and processed commercial products, maintaining its status as a staple across Italy and the United States.

The narrative demonstrates how culinary concepts are often detached from their actual historical introduction or popularization, creating space for myth-making. The progression from a medieval luxury staple to an American comfort food is mediated by cultural diffusion rather than a single invention event. The fact that the credit for popularizing the dish shifts—from Italian origins to Anglo-French fashion, then disputed claims regarding Jefferson/Hemings, and finally to African American cooks in the South—highlights how historical agency is selectively recorded and reallocated based on subsequent social power structures. This pattern suggests that dominant historical narratives favor established elite or racially privileged groups, while laboring groups' contributions are relegated to unacknowledged functional roles, such as transforming the dish into a soul food classic. The final step, commercialization by Kraft, represents a shift from cultural tradition to mass-market commodification, further obscuring the artisanal and culinary history embedded in the ingredients themselves. What systems of value determine which historical agents receive credit for innovation versus popularization? What are the long-term consequences when taste and comfort become intertwined with fraught histories of exclusion?