THE EPIC HISTORY OF MACARONI AND CHEESE

The meandering, culinary path of macaroni and cheese.

How does one measure the impact an iconic dish has had on society and culture? How does one know what to include after researching a renowned recipe throughout the annals of civilization? The task is noble and large, and while scholar Moyer-Nocchi extensively researched her topic, seasoning the narrative with mouth-watering recipes, the sprawling history is bloated and the narrative is bland. With too many cooks and ideas in the kitchen, this book, if significantly revised, could have been an interesting essay. The foodie may wonder why we are speculating on whether Thomas Jefferson consumed macaroni and cheese during a particular meal. The anachronistic vocabulary may also grate on the reader, with St. Thomas in the 13th century considering dairy a “hot topic,” Nicolas Bonnefons being “a noble wannabe,” and Antonio Frugoli suggesting macaroni and cheese “in a Hamburger Helper sort of way.” One has the sense that the author included everything she learned in her cherry-picked investigation, no matter how far the tidbit strays from the theme, whether cookbook mentions (including criticisms), the etymology of words, an 1833 magazine’s cover story, genealogies of the first Virginia families, pineapple cheese, the top-ranking menu orders of New York’s Fifth Avenue hotel between 1859 and 1865, Kraft suing Pabst, the origin of chilis, and the preservation of the Union through the Civil War. The “epic” of the title is misleading: This book feels more like a gluttonous list of trivia facts, and while macaroni and cheese obsessives may savor it, the rest of us will crave other reading experiences.

An overcooked mush of historical anecdotes and random references.