Is Mac 'n cheese actually good?

The Dutch literally obsess over fries and mayo with onion, but it's hard to understand cheese and pasta?

>>Is Mac 'n cheese actually good?

Like most dishes it depends entirely on the preparation. The shit in a box is pretty awful, but that's to be expected given that it's dirt cheap processed food. Mac and cheese made from scratch with good cheese can be amazingly good.

>>I'm from the Netherlands

Meanwhile we look at you and wonder why on earth you guys eat fries drowned in mayo. That sounds absolutely disgusting to me, but hey, everyone has different preferences.

Got me there

Raw herring tho

8685242 here. I am an American now, but I was born in Denmark. We eat a fuckload of herring. Grilled, smoked, pickled...but I've never had it raw.

I hate the basic shit that most make, but I know a woman that can actually cook and she makes it with milk, butter, and havarti and bakes it in the oven. It's actually very good.

As a first gen American I rarely had mac and cheese growing up so most of it tastes foul to me. Especially that boxed garbage everyone around me insists on.

Try it sometimes dude, that if you like herring. it's pretty sweet to just put on the table with some onions. Pickled what you said is pretty good too, eat those a lot

anyone got an amazing mac and cheese recipe, i fancy it now

Can an European go for an hour without posting something about America this, America that?
Honest question.

no

What makes you think it's Europeans rather than Americans trolling other Americans?

To me, it seems that the OP is from Europe.
And whether it is an American trolling or European shitposting, both are equally pathetic. I don't remember the last time I was concerned with Dutch cuisine or complained about jaegerschnitzel.

If it's good, it's pretty good. If it's bad, it's realllllly bad. That's about all I have to say about it. Oh..and this

I'm honestly just curious, since we don't have it here. It sounds kinda boring tastewise, but I suppose it's all in prep. so no Euro shitposting

They need something to take their mind off being in the country they're in.

It's literally just a pasta bake. If you've ever had a pasta bake with cheese on it (ie. 99% of them) you've basically had mac and cheese.

Does anyone have a foolproof recipe? Fancy some Mac and Cheese now

Make mac
now ADD CHEESE

Mac M cheese is best made like a pasta bake

I don't eat it myself, and I wouldn't cook it.
I can see the appeal if you want comfy starch and fat mixed in together, though.
Think of it as Americans trying to make their own Carbonara, with less than quarter of the flavor.

People in the netherlands have weird taste in food. That is why there are no successful dutch restaurants internationally. You are on a different level jongen.

>To me, it seems that the OP is from Europe.
That's because you're easily rused

Mac 'n Cheese is okay but it's massively overrated. I think most people just have nostalgia feelings from it from shitty childhoods full of kraft and other shitty boxed food.

Proper home made macaroni and cheese is significantly better, but still ranks fairly low, imo, amongst the side dishes. Like I would probably take mashed potatoes over macaroni and cheese.

Thomas Jefferson brought mac n' cheese to America after seeing it in Italy. He then invented his own pasta extruder to make the elbow pasta.

If you don't eat and wouldn't make it, you are in no position to judge it. It's nothing like "trying to make Carbonara but with less than a quarter of the flavor". That's one of the worst descriptions I've ever heard of mac and cheese.

Made correctly it's fine, most faggots put flour in it and ruin it.

>making a mornay without a roux

The fuck you on?

Using a roux for macaroni cheese is comparatively recent (~50-60 years). It's better made without assuming you're not just using one type of shitty cheap cheese.

mac and cheese is baby food

You don't need to make a "mornay". If you pick cheeses that melt well on their own the roux is completely unnecessary.

I normally use a 50/50 mix of smoked gouda and gruyere. These cheeses melt so nicely that a roux base is completely unnecessary. All you need is the cheese and maybe a splash of milk or cream.

I've also done one of Gordon Ramsay's recipes using blue cheese (I used Danablue), bacon, and mushrooms and that recipe doesn't call for a roux either.

Of course if you insist on using a cheese that doesn't melt well, like an aged cheddar, then you would need extra ingredients to emulsify it.

O B E S E D
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>"mornay"
Puts mornay into quotes like a faggot
Why was that necessary?

You put it better than I would have myself, though I'd also add butter. I've always been taught to add at least two cheeses and no flour. Given the history of the dish (British through the south of Italy) this makes a degree of sense, heavy use of flour-based sauces is not common in either cuisine (upper-class British perhaps but that's because of French influence, not local tradition). The USA has significant French influence also in its culinary traditions which, combined with a poor approach to cheese in the past, probably explains the change.

your opinions matters so much. Especially when someone want's a recipe and you go on about boxed shit. Thank you so much for your opinion. Enjoy your bagged dried potato flakes and canned gravy.

You might be right, but I did find a mac n' cheese recipe from a British cookbook written in the late 1700's. Looks like a bechemel sauce.

>Why was that necessary?

To trigger people such as yourself.

That's a fairly well known cookbook aimed at the upper class, as explained they cooked like the French at the time. Recipies from the time vary, there's also one that is just butter, cheese and pasta which I'll see if I can dig up. Also it's worth noting that either that book in your picture or another book by the same author advises to cook pasta for 3/4 of an hour or more.

I'm too lazy, have this that I shamelessly stole from wikipedia instead: A cheese and pasta casserole known as makerouns was recorded in the famous medieval English cookbook, the Forme of Cury, which was also 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 (in Middle English) 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." ("Make a thin foil of dough and cut it in pieces. Put them in boiling in water and seethe them well. Grate cheese and add it with butter beneath and above as with losyns [a dish similar to lasagne], and serve.")

You mean middle class. The upper class didn't need a cookbook, they had help doing the cooking and the help knew what they were doing because occupations were inherited positions. The book was aimed at a new class of people who didn't have hired help but wanted to ape the ways of the aristocracy.

Fair point, though cooks in particular were expected to keep up with new trends in food from abroad, particularly from the Empire. Upper-Middle Class would have been more accurate, many cookbooks at the time were indeed aimed at the active housewife rather than the idly rich (Lower-Middle still not having too much cash to throw about on pretentious shit and generally investing it anyway).
The British class system was batshit crazy some of the time.

Most cuisines have starchy, fatty, salty foods that children love and adults eat as comfort food. In the Netherlands you have both frites with sauce and croquettes to scratch that itch. In Rome it's caccio e pepe the children clamor for. In much of the US and Canada it's mac & cheese.

Done well it's a pretty good dish, if a little insipid like most "comfort foods". When it becomes horrible is when it's made from convenience mixes sold in little boxes in the supermarket. That shit is pretty grim, but people who grew up with it tend to be nostalgic for it as adults. The Dutch equivalent would be the guy who knows better still having a weak spot for the croquettes at FEBO.

>make cheese sauce (pepperjack+stock+roux)
>mix with your choice of pasta
>put in casserole pan
>sprinkle breadcrumbs on top
>add some extra shredded cheese
>bake for 10 minutes, then broil until top is crispy

Probably the most adult mac n' cheese is going to be Thomas Keller's Macaroni Gratin from adhoc. Google the recipe.

yeah thyme and nutmeg is so traditional in mac n cheese and using a mornay sauce as flavor instead of the cheese holding the flavor.

Nutmeg is traditional is bechamel which is needed to make a cheese sauce. (pic related is from the CIA textbook) So you're really only pissed about the thyme, and again you have too look at context, most adults prefer herbs and other green things in their dishes, so you might be correct in thinking this recipe isn't for manchildren like yourself and why I said "adult mac n cheese"

That's a terrible description. With the right blend of quality cheese, proper spices, and quality additions you can have an incredibly flavorful and tasty dish.

You're stupid and you should feel bad.

Most of it's not good at all. It has to be made right and include at least one ingredient other than noodles and cheese sauce, such as chicken.

This is like saying "Mashed potatoes! That sounds horrible! Just potatoes and butter!"

Not only are you not considering the full range of possible ingredients, you're missing the point of a savoury, carb based side dish entirely. Additionally, it's hard to make things like mac and cheese, or mashed potatoes "horrible", boring might be the word you're looking for.

Leaf here, don't know anyone that isn't still in college that views mac n cheese as a main course. Mind you, you could easily find loads of Americans that will eat literally anything as a main course as long as it includes carbs and cheese, probably bacon too. Pretty sure those fucking "Tasty" FB tier videos aren't of Canuck origin.

...

this shit is where it's at

This guy kinda gets it. Especially in Canada, Mac n Cheese is just a blank template to work with.

>chicken and some teriyaki sauce mixed in
>chicken and lots of curry powder/sauce

use your imagination a bit.

I'm not from America and in my country this is children's food.

Adults don't eat it.

It's alright if you mix in some beef and broccoli, super cheap comfort food
Unrelated do you have Jello in the low lands?

Bring water to a boil in a big pot. Add a box of elbow macaroni. Meanwhile, make a roux in a cast iron skillet, 2 tbs butter and flour each. Add about a cup of milk and a little salt and pepper (bechemel). Once it has thickened a little, add about a cup of cheese (sharp cheddar). Stir until well mixed. Adjust until consistency is liquid but not runny. Flavor should be prominent in cheese but creamy. Dump in the cooked pasta. Stir, cover the top with more cheese, bake in the oven for a half hour at 400. Take out and let sit for another half hour to congeal.

rekt