Mac and Cheese Charleston Style

The other day I made one of my most favorite foods on Earth: Macaroni and Cheese. It is the ultimate comfort food. Pasta, cheese, and not much of anything else. How can you not love that?!? Mac & Cheese has a long and storied history. Pasta and cheese casseroles have been recorded in cookbooks as early as the 14th century's Liber de Coquina, one of the oldest medieval cookbooks. It is a French dish of parmesan and pasta and was brought to England in the 14th century.

A cheese and pasta casserole known as makerouns was recorded in the famous medieval French cookbook The Forme of Cury, which was written in the 14th century. It was made with fresh, hand-cut pasta which was sandwiched between a mixture of melted butter and cheese. The recipe given was "Take and make a thynne foyle of dowh. and kerve it on peces, and cast hem on boillyng water & seeþ it wele. take chese and grate it and butter cast bynethen and above as losyns. and serue forth."

The first modern recipe for the dish was included in cookery writer Elizabeth Raffald's 1769 book The Experienced French Housekeeper. Raffald's recipe is for a bechamel sauce with cheddar cheese, which is mixed with macaroni, sprinkled with parmesan and baked until bubbly and golden. The famous British Victorian cookbook Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management included two recipes for the dish. One recipe states that "The macaroni, (which should be "tender but perfectly firm, no part being allowed to melt, and the form entirely preserved" – lest one be tempted to cook it for so long it actually disintegrated) is then topped with more cheese, pepper and breadcrumbs, before receiving a final dose of melted butter for good measure and being placed before a "bright fire" to brown the crumbs, or grilled with a salamander."

In the UK in the 2010s it has seen a surge in its popularity, becoming widespread as a meal and as a side order both in both fast food and upmarket restaurants.

The American president Thomas Jefferson encountered macaroni both in Paris and in northern Italy. He drew a sketch of the pasta and wrote detailed notes on the extrusion process. In 1793, he commissioned American ambassador to Paris William Short to purchase a machine for making it.

Evidently, the machine was not suitable, as Jefferson later imported both macaroni and Parmesan cheese for his use at Monticello. In 1802, Jefferson served a "macaroni pie" at a state dinner. Thus facilitating the folklore tales of southern slave owners handing the recipe for "macaroni pie" off to their kitchen slaves. This is where the recipe is perfected. By the hands of West African, and West Indian slaves the modern version of Macaroni and cheese came to be.

In Charleston, SC Mac & Cheese is a veritable institution, it is almost a religion unto itself. Many a church picnic and potluck buffet table has been dotted with several to many different versions of the dish made by the old "church ladies". Each one insisting their recipes is the oldest (handed down by great-great grandma so-and-so), and therefor the best one on the table. I actually saw a near brawl break out once at the First United Methodist Church of 'somewhere USA' over who's Mac & Cheese was better.

The recipe below is my own. I have developed it over my years of cooking in Asian and Europe, and here in Charleston. The addition of bacon is not 100% necessary,  but you will be missing out on so much yumminess if you omit it. It is so easy and so yummy, that I thought I'd share it with everyone. So here it is...

Chef Julie's Amazing Mac & Cheese

8 ounces elbow macaroni
6-8 strips of bacon-diced small

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon powdered mustard

2 cups milk
1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 large egg

16 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Fresh black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Using a cast iron skillet (or a nonstick pan if you don't own any cast iron) over medium low heat cook the bacon 12-14 minutes until all the fat is rendered out of the bacon and the little bits left are very crisp.

Drain the bacon bits on a paper towel and set aside.

In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al denté.

While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, melt the butter. Add the onions and cook at medium-low for 10-12 minutes until they are golden brown. Whisk in the flour and whisk vigorously, making sure it's free of lumps.

Stir in the milk, cream, onion, and paprika. Simmer at medium low for about ten minutes-stirring often.

Temper in the egg (see *how to temper below).

Stir in 3/4 of the cheese, and season with salt and pepper. Fold the bacon, and macaroni into the mix and pour into a 9x12 baking dish. Top with remaining cheese.

 Bake for 30 minutes.

Remove from oven and rest for five minutes before serving.

*To temper an egg, or multiple eggs, you need a large bowl and a whisk. Give the eggs a brief whisk in the bowl. Take your hot liquid mixture and, working with just a quarter cup at a time, pour it into the eggs as you whisk continuously. Adding the liquid slowly prevents the eggs from being cooked instantly-and thus turning into scrambled eggs-from exposure to heat. Keep adding the milk in small increments until half of it has been added. Then add the remaining liquid in a steady stream. Strain the egg mixture with a mesh strainer back into your saucepan, removing any bits of egg that might have gotten cooked, or shells that strayed into your sauce, and proceed with your recipe as written.