Soul Food Guide: Macaroni and Cheese

Macaroni and Cheese from Chef Nem KitchenPhotograph by Hailey Bollinger Let’s get it straight: Thomas Jefferson did not invent mac and cheese. This popular claim doesn’t hold up, since pasta baked with cheese was already centuries old in Europe and quite popular in France by the time Jefferson arrived there in 1784. America’s real story with mac and cheese belongs to James Hemings, the enslaved chef Jefferson brought with him to Paris who studied French cooking for three years. Hemings returned to Monticello with a refined grasp of French technique, including “macaroni pie,” a dish made by cooking pasta in milk and water, layering it with butter and cheese, and then baking it. It was a favorite of Jefferson’s and, soon after, became a common dish at other early American political dinners. As pasta and cheese grew cheaper and industrial food production expanded, the dish made its way from elite tables to everyday American kitchens. But it was Black cooks, particularly Black women, who t