Three generations of macaroni and cheese

Macaroni and cheese have been around together for a long time. One of the first recipes to be printed appears in Elizabeth Raffald’s The Experienced English Housewife, first published in 1769 (reproduced below). In Georgian times, a gill was a quarter of a pint (142 mL). The macaroni came in long, thick hollow sticks; a dozen would weigh 150 grams and make four modern servings.

Boil four ounces of macaroni till it be quite tender and lay it on a sieve to drain. Then put it in a tossing pan with about a gill of good cream, a lump of butter rolled in flour, boil it five minutes. Pour it on a plate, lay all over it parmesan cheese toasted. Send it to the table on a water plate, for it soon goes cold.

The popularity of mac & cheese rose just before and especially during the Great War, when cheddar replaced the parmesan. Our second recipe is from 1912, published in Magic Cookbook and Housekeepers Guide by the E.W. Gillett Company of Toronto. The White Sauce is taken from The New Perfection Cook-book, published by the Cleveland Foundry Company (a stove maker) the same year.

Macaroni

Take 12 sticks of macaroni, 1½ cups of thin White Sauce, ½ cup of stale bread crumbs, 1 cup grated cheese, 1 tablespoon of butter. Break the macaroni in 2-inch pieces and cook in boiling salted water until soft – about 20 minutes. Pour into a colander and run cold water through it. Put in a buttered pudding dish and thoroughly stir in 1 teaspoon mustard which has been mixed with water. Add the sauce with half the cheese in it. Put crumbs into melted butter. Add remaining cheese to them, and spread this mixture over that in the dish. Brown in hot oven.

White Sauce

For the White Sauce, put 2 tablespoons butter in a saucepan, stir until melted and bubbling; add 2 tablespoons flour, a little salt and pepper, and stir until well mixed. Pour on gradually 1 cup milk, stirring until well mixed and smooth.

Our third recipe is the modern equivalent of the Great War variety, that is, a recipe in modern measures and terms, made with modern tools, that delivers the same delicious result. It was adapted and developed in the kitchens of Fort York and lovingly, thoroughly and with great pleasure tested, repeatedly, by the inhabitants of the fort. Our culinary historians happily shared the result in their popular 2018 cookbook, Recipes for Victory. These amounts will make four modest servings.

Macaroni

1 cup (250 mL) shredded old Cheddar cheese, divided
1 cup (250 mL) elbow macaroni
1 tsp (5 mL) dry mustard powder
1 tbsp (15) water
½ cup (125 mL) breadcrumbs from stale home-style white bread
1 tbsp (15 mL) butter, melted

White Sauce

3 tbsp (45 mL) butter
3 tbsp (45 mL) all-purpose flour
½ tsp (2 mL) each salt and pepper
1½ cups (375 mL) milk

We start the White Sauce first. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in the flour; cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Whisk in the milk; continue whisking until the sauce comes to a boil and is smooth and thickened.

Stir half the cheese into the White Sauce; set aside.

Lightly butter an 8-inch (2 L) square baking dish; set aside. Place an oven rack in the centre of the oven; heat to 400 °F (200 °C).

Cook the macaroni in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still somewhat firm to the bite; about 10 minutes. Drain and return to the pot.

Stir together the mustard and water; sprinkle over the macaroni and toss to coat evenly. Pour the sauce over the macaroni and toss gently to coat. Scrape into the prepared baking dish; smooth top.

Combine the breadcrumbs, remaining cheese and butter; sprinkle evenly over the macaroni mixture. Bake until piping hot, golden and crusty on top, about 20 minutes.

This was enjoyed by the well-to-do and ordinary soldiers alike, and a version is still in the Canadian Army’s field rations today.