Macaroni and cheese

A dish of cooked macaroni combined with cheese sauce or melted cheese, served on the stovetop or baked, sometimes with added ingredients or a crisp topping.

Mornay sauce: A béchamel sauce enriched with cheese, commonly Gruyère or Parmesan. This classic cheese sauce supplies a smooth base for many versions.
Pasta: A family of foods made from dough, usually shaped and cooked by boiling or baking. Macaroni and cheese begins with a pasta tradition that long predates the dish.
Baked macaroni and cheese: A version of macaroni and cheese baked, often with a browned or crisp topping. Oven baking sets the sauce and creates a browned surface absent from stovetop versions.
Comfort food: Food associated with emotional reassurance, familiarity, or nostalgia. Macaroni and cheese is often described through its nostalgic and soothing associations.
Béchamel sauce: A white sauce made by thickening milk with a butter-and-flour roux. Its roux stabilizes the milk before cheese is added.
Macaroni: A dry pasta shape, usually made from wheat, with a short hollow tube form. The tube-shaped pasta gives the dish its familiar name and bite.
Stovetop macaroni and cheese: A quickly prepared macaroni-and-cheese dish cooked and served without oven baking. This version emphasizes a fluid sauce and short preparation time.
Soul food: A cuisine rooted in African American foodways, especially in the southern United States. Baked macaroni and cheese became a celebrated dish in many soul-food traditions.
Roux: A cooked mixture of fat and flour used to thicken sauces and soups. A roux thickens stovetop cheese sauce and helps it cling to pasta.
Thomas Jefferson: The third president of the United States, who served from 1801 to 1809. Jefferson encountered macaroni dishes in Europe and helped popularize them in the United States.

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