“‘Southern Macaroni and Cheese’ as it appears on menus outside the South looks nothing like what I had grown up preparing with my family.” — NaBeela Washington (_simplybee)
One thing that separates Southern versions of macaroni and cheese from others is the concept of intentionality. No matter where you’re from, my family’s recipe might appear fairly similar to yours
Once the pasta is somewhere between al dente and soft, a member of our kitchen crew passes a large casserole dish to our head chef, who lines the bottom of the dish with it. One of us excitedly begins pouring the cheesy roux, making sure it covers this first layer of pasta. Another one of us, or whoever is closest, takes what’s left of the grated cheeses and crumbles them over the pasta and roux.
In the South, we heal, forge community; I grew up learning to tell stories through my family’s recipes. “Southern food is a living record of the people, places, and cultures that have contributed to the evolving landscape of our unique little corner of the world,” writes Angela Garrison Zontek in.