Macaroni and cheese is a beloved holiday classic, and has deep roots in the African American cooking tradition.
Macaroni and cheese is one of many popular holiday dishes that has ties to enslaved Black peoples who adapted their customs from West Africa and experiences in America to their cooking traditions.
Jessica B. Harris’s book High on the Hog: A Culinary Journey from African to America delves into the African influences of American food. In 2021, Netflix adapted the book into a popular show called High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America. This four-part series brings the African American culinary journey to life. The show’s host, Stephen Satterfield, travels to Benin, Pennsylvania, Virginia, South Carolina, and Texas. He talks to writers, historians, chefs, restaurateurs, and cowboys about the history and influence of African American customs and adaptations on American cuisine.
The book and the Netflix show tell the story of one of America’s founding Black chefs, James Hemings. James Hemings, brother of Sally Hemings, was the enslaved head chef at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. Jefferson took Hemings with him on his trips to France, where Hemings apprenticed to chefs in Paris. Upon their return to America, Hemings brought back the techniques and recipes he learned abroad and implemented them in Jefferson’s home. His dishes became popular due to all the formal dinners Jefferson hosted.
Though very few recipes have been attributed in writing to Hemings, it’s believed that many of Martha Jefferson’s recipes had to have come from the kitchen of the head chef.
After James Hemings gained his freedom, and Jefferson became president, Jefferson tried to bring Hemings on as the White House chef. Unfortunately, Hemings passed away before this could happen. But his legacy lives on in the dishes he helped make American classics. One of those dishes was macaroni and cheese, called macaroni pie back then. Six months before his death, Jefferson had bought several pounds of raw macaroni. Mac and cheese was a well loved dish at Monticello!
Try this old school mac and cheese recipe from Rufus Estes’ Good Things to Eat: The First Cookbook by an African-American Chef.
Cook macaroni in boiling salted water. Boil uncovered for 20 or 30 minutes, then drain. Fill a buttered baking dish with alternate layers of macaroni and grated cheese, sprinkling pepper, salt, and melted butter over each layer. Have top layer of cheese, moisten with rich milk, bake in moderate oven until a rich brown.
Alternate version from High on the Hog Netflix show:
Cook the macaroni in half water, half milk. Alternate layers of macaroni, chunks of butter, and shredded cheese.
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Shannon Moreau is the Editor of the NMBLC EQ Blog