Photograph by Hailey Bollinger
Let’s get it straight: Thomas Jefferson did not invent mac and cheese. This popular claim doesn’t hold up, since pasta baked with cheese was already centuries old in Europe and quite popular in France by the time Jefferson arrived there in 1784. America’s real story with mac and cheese belongs to James Hemings, the enslaved chef Jefferson brought with him to Paris who studied French cooking for three years. Hemings returned to Monticello with a refined grasp of French technique, including “macaroni pie,” a dish made by cooking pasta in milk and water, layering it with butter and cheese, and then baking it. It was a favorite of Jefferson’s and, soon after, became a common dish at other early American political dinners.
As pasta and cheese grew cheaper and industrial food production expanded, the dish made its way from elite tables to everyday American kitchens. But it was Black cooks, particularly Black women, who transformed it after emancipation into something more than just a European import. They rebuilt the recipe as a baked casserole, adding an egg custard base for structure, swapping in sharp cheddar for its bolder flavor and lower cost, and turning to shelf-stable options like evaporated milk for richness that would hold. Layered and baked to a golden crust, the dish became a fixture for everything from Sunday dinners to reunions, one of the most fiercely defended dishes in African American cuisine. So who serves the best mac and cheese in the Queen City? That’s up for debate. But start with Chef Nem Kitchen, Mz. Jade’s Soul Food, and Good Thangz Cookin.
- Chef Nem Kitchen, 3305 Reading Rd., Avondale, (513) 602-8082,
- Mz. Jade’s Soul Food, 11119 Reading Rd., Sharonville, (513) 386-7770
- Good Thangz Cookin, 102 Mill St., Lockland, (513) 979-4101
