Mac ‘n Cheese – I’ve been Bitten!

PROLOGUE: I continue to evolve – hopefully – and explore and pursue my passions; art, food/wine (sustainability) and marketing all in one blog: In Search of a Personal Stability Zone…

NEWEST POST: Why is my first official food-focused blog on Mac ‘n Cheese? I’ve been bitten. I had my first taste of Mac ‘n Cheese at the tender age of 58 and ever since then, it’s rolled around in the recesses of my mind. Why so late? My cultural background never introduced or indoctrinated me to this culinary phenomenon. Yes, I’m a late Mac ‘n Cheese bloomer because of the orange stuff in the blue package that, even though it’s been around since 1937, was not tolerated or allowed in my mother’s kitchen.

No packaged foods in my mom’s pantry! And, even though, later in life, I had the occasion to sample the orange stuff, I could see my mother’s reason for not buying it. It tasted, in my opinion like, well, crap. Same goes for the Ramen Noodles. Now this from a guy who was brought up on traditional Portuguese dishes like Cacoila; a stew of all of the parts of a pig most people, regardless of the current economy, wouldn’t touch, buy or use. These pig parts needed to be stewed because long and slow cooking was required to make the “meat” tender enough to eat.

Residents of this part of southeastern Massachusetts who think they know what Cacoila [ka-soil-uh] is are shocked, when after asking me if I like it, they quickly find out that my memories of it are quite different from their current experiences. You see, this is a dish of the very poor and was traditionally prepared right after the annual slaughter around harvest time. It contains the pig’s heart, lungs, liver, ears, snout, and tail and, I’ll stop there. What is offered today is the same recipe only with a better cut of pork (butt or shoulder). It is now more commonly served as a sandwich in a Portuguese bread roll. It’s been referred to as Portuguese Pulled Pork.

So what does this have to do with Mac ‘n Cheese? To me, the same thing - people who know what real Mac ‘n Cheese is might understand my knowing what real Cacoila is. As the old Motown tune used to go: ain’t nothing like the real thing baby. Well, maybe more so in the case of Mac ‘n Cheese. With all of this in mind, I moved on to looking up a suitable recipe for Mac ‘n Cheese. Something told me not to follow it to the letter but I did. I was right about being wrong! My granddaughter wanted me to make her some so I did (from that recipe) and she said it was okay. She was being wonderfully nice. I loved that kid from the first time I set eyes on her!

My next attempt, using the same recipe, but eliminating one ingredient (egg that’s what set off my radar), received a much better response and the admission that the previous batch was really not as good as she claimed. My next attempt really hit the nail on the head. It’s a keeper and it’ll enter my repertoire. There’s more about my still developing Mac ‘n Cheese adventure and I’ll get into that in a follow-up blog along with the idea of a Mac ‘n Cheese cook-off for charity.

The one thing that my mind couldn’t let go of as I got into all things Mac ‘n Cheese was how is Mac ‘n Cheese connected to African-American culture? And this is where it got interesting for me. Many of my non-Cape Verdean (Black Portuguese-Americans) friends, especially around the New Year, would go on and on about the food served during this time of the year, especially the Black Eye Peas and the Mac ‘n Cheese dishes. I can understand the going on and on part since I’m easily distracted by the thought of food, cooking and eating. Good food, a nice bottle of wine and the Gypsy Kings pretty much rounds out a gastronomic experience for me.

I remember when I was in college in the Seventies; Soul Food was one of the big things. My friends of color invited me to a restaurant to share their culinary tradition, billed as Soul Food, with them. Well, we ordered, had a few beers and had some good table conversation going when someone asked me what I thought of the Soul Food. I said I didn’t know. I hadn’t had any yet. Everyone laughed. What did I think I was eating then? Well, I had Red Beans & Rice, Ham Hocks and Greens. Obviously, I didn’t have the real Mac ‘n Cheese.

At that point, however, I don’t know who was the more shocked; my table companions or me, when I said that this is what I ate at home. But, they said, “You’re not Black. Is your mom?” “No,” I said, “She’s Portuguese.” That moment has been with me ever since. It taught me that we are more connected than not. When it comes to our culinary cultures, the similarities are even more astounding. As a result of that event, I’ve been interested in culinary connections.

But, what does all this have to do with the Mac ‘n Cheese connection to African-American culture? Here’s the quick version. Mac ‘n Cheese has its origins in Thirteenth Century Italy – big surprise! It could also be considered a proto-type for Lasagna. Somehow, one of our founding fathers Thomas Jefferson brought a pasta machine to Virginia from one of his trips to Italy. His daughter Mary Randolph is credited by some food historians with inventing the dish. Makes perfect sense but how did it get on the African-American table and become a part of their culinary heritage? It’s so simple that the simplicity shocked me. I was especially shocked when I realized a sustainable similarity in French-Canadian and African-American “cuisines” because of one simple reason – hard work.

My dad was an authentic Canadian Lumberjack. He went into the woods in 1942 at the age of twelve. The food they served in the lumber camps is not only reflective of French-Canadian cooking as it had evolved from Old World France in New France. Hey, it’s cold up there! French-Canadian food is calorie-intensive! By today’s standards, it makes McDonald’s Supersize Menu seem wimpy. It’s, in short, working folk’s food. It’s cheap, plentiful and available. It’s also loaded with what it takes to keep you working. Working burns off the dreaded calories. End of story. Did I mention that most of these calorie laden dishes are also simple to prepare?

To wrap this up, this is what I’ve learned and have hopefully been successful in relating to you; we are related more through our ability to stave off hunger though hard work and creativity. Every culture has a culinary tradition of sustainability. Whether sustaining our bodies to deal with the harshness of the climate to assist us to endure our labors, we all share more than we imagine. Many of these lowly foods have been elevated to fine dining menu status or, labeled comfort food or have become a part of either our everyday lives or, of the rites, rituals and celebrations of our culture.

In many cases those foods have evolved and today satisfy needs other than their original purpose of fueling our stamina, stretching our budgets or filling our bellies. I’m already thinking of Mac ‘n Cheese variations. Just had some with hot peppers and boy it was a great remedy for my suffering sinuses! One more thing – there are more recipes for Mac ‘n Cheese than there are hairs on a dawg…

Cheddar Man – Local Hero

In 1903 in a place called Gough's Cave in Cheddar Gorge, Somerset, England, the skeletal remains of a man dating back to approximately 7150 BC were found. Yes, Cheddar, England is where Cheddar Cheese originated and has been made for about one thousand years. The remains are Britain’s oldest complete human skeleton and have been called, what else but, Cheddar Man.

In the 1990’s, the dawn of DNA testing, Cheddar Man and at least 20 residents of Cheddar had their DNA tested. Cheddar Man’s DNA was extracted from one of his molars. Cheddar Man was proven to be related to the living residents of Cheddar village, which brings us to the point of this posting. Cheddar Man was a local guy! His descendents didn’t wander too far from their ancestral home either.

What does it matter? A locality that is sustainable is a locality that sustains. If your location provides everything you need to survive such as food, shelter and clothing, why wander? Well, okay, what about the need to be self-actualized? A location’s culture must also be sustainable and sustained. I’ve written before that in this area, the south coast of Massachusetts, that our greatest export is educated youth. Even with a school system that others would envy, if there is no industry, commerce or enterprises for our young people to join, they will move on in search of employment.

Our economic system is such that a job or some form of livelihood is needed to fulfill our daily physical needs. We’ve got to work to buy food to eat to live. This area once subsisted on toil focused on the bounty of land and sea. The Industrial Revolution brought us the textile mills. Our standard of living increased with the nation’s. The automobile gave us mobile freedom and the suburbs (where the farms used to be). Are there Cheddar men amongst us? Are you one? I am not. One side came to New Bedford via Canada and Normandy. The other side came to New Bedford via the mountainous region of the Portuguese mainland. My roots in this area are only one hundred and thirty years old.

Yet, my ancestors brought what was local to them here. So, is local a place, a state of mind or something else completely? In the real estate profession the key factor in selecting the right property is location, or, as they like to say: location, location, location. Location requires locality. Locality is both a physical and an emotional sense of place. Where are you located? Where are you situated? Where do you live, work and play? How much and in what way does your current location sustain you?

Is self-reliance a benefit, an advantage or feature of your location? Is self-reliance a form of independence? Does change force us to change? Is change the result of external uncontrollable forces? Are we left to decide whether to change or be changed. Someone once said that what we are never changes. But, who we are never stops changing. Ben Franklin said we could only depend on death and taxes. In a letter he wrote in 1789 after the turmoil and triumph of the American Revolution he stated, “Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”

Permanency, like that of the Cheddar Man and his modern cousins on his mother’s side is not certain. Alvin Toffler described that: The rate of turnover in our lives, for example, can be influenced by conscious decisions. We can, for example, cut down on change and stimulation by consciously maintaining longer term relationships with the various elements of our physical environment. Now, remember that Toffler wrote this in the Seventies, another period of turmoil and uncertainty in America.

He went on to say that: Thus, we can refuse to purchase throw-away products. We can hang onto the old jacket for another season; we can stoutly refuse to follow the latest fashion trend; we can resist when the salesman tells us it's time to trade in our automobile. In this way, we reduce the need to make and break ties with the physical objects around us.

We can use the same tactic with respect to people and the other dimensions of experience. There are times when even the most gregarious person feels anti-social and refuses invitations to parties or other events that call for social interaction.

He was talking about the creation of a “personal stability zone” in which: We consciously disconnect. In the same way, we can minimize travel. We can resist pointless reorganizations in our company, church, fraternal or community groups. In making important decisions, we can consciously weigh the hidden costs of change against the benefits. Perhaps stability is sanity?

Why else is it that when we find ourselves outside of our stability zone, home and hearth if I may, we either bring some of it with us or look for it, or something similar to it where we find ourselves? Why else is it that Hoo Mee Chow Mein Mix brings such joy to the expatriated south coast Massachusetts resident along with Portuguese sausage products and coffee syrup just to name a few stabilizers within our personal stability zones?

Perhaps it’s because we all need something we can identify with and with that thought in mind, I present for your sampling, the concept of food, location and sustainability. The more I post, the more (hopefully, I think) evolve. The more I evolve, the more I am convinced that in order to be truly happy, as I learned in Psyche 101, we need a sense of control, belonging and verifiable affection. So, for all of the other Cheddar “men” out there, please consider this: sustainability is anchored to locality. And, a sense of place is represented by what we share at the table. It is with this thought, or revelation, that I am contemplating shifting my thoughts on my vocation – marketing, to something that has always intrigued me – food!

To me, food defines my personal stability zone in many ways. It represents my cultural background, it is engaged in at my family’s table and it connects me to what I am and where I live. It is about sustainability, survival and culture. It allows me to describe directly what I’ve learned and supports me indirectly as a metaphor for what I’m thinking. And, it may redirect me to rename this blog to: In Search of a Personal Stability Zone to explore our collective:

• Conscious decisions
• Environmental relationship
• Ties to physical objects
• Social interactions
• Pointless reorganizations

As well as, perhaps assisting in the investigation in to the strengths and weaknesses of current or popular short-term and long-term investments that are supposed to benefit us rather than destroy us. So yes, what I am has not changed but who I am is changing – again.

They say, go with your passion and food and everything about it is a passion of mine but not, in a gourmet sense. Or, in any matter connected to traditional food writing but, more so, it is about the one personal stability zone we can control – the table. Here is where we are identified, how we identify with where we are right now and perhaps where we’re going. It is also a way for me to tie food, art and marketing into one package in one place just to sustain myself and my sanity.