I’m not sure I’m so much a fan of this. Maybe the recipe isn’t the best there is but it felt not that creamy and lacked acidity despite my attempts to adapt with some more apple cider vinegar.
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Hey! Fellow European that have tried to do mac&cheese without having tasted the real thing ever.. the thing that made it go from muh to absolutely deliciousness was:
First, using the right quantity of cheese which is about twice the quantity of pasta by weight (1 lb pasta -> 2 lb cheese, 0.5kg pasta -> 1kg cheese.
Second, the right cheeses, I used 500g cheddar (sharp, and a bit of extra sharp. It was Irish, not American), 200g Gruyère, 100g smoked Gouda, 100g mozzarella, 100 g of a local cheese I like. Using sodium citrate will make the sauce keep the right texture and not break, recommended specially since you mentioned it was greasy. American cheese ('cheese food', not any cheese made in America) already has it so no need to add more.
For a bit of punch use spices, not acids, black and/or white pepper, chile flakes, nutmeg, smoked paprika...
Preparation, use 6/10 of the cheese melted within the sauce (600g, in the case of 1kg total), the rest you mix it while pouring the sauce, already mixed with the pasta, on the backing dish. Save a handful to top it all, so you get a nice cheesy crust.
Mind if I ask what cheese(s) did you use?
Edit: edited back autocorrect mistake.
Professional chef weighing in: yes.
adding a little american cheese style (we have Land o Lakes american cheese) is optimal for best results, because it does habe the emulsifyers. American and cheddar. I like putting hella black pepper in mine. aye. so good.
hoooo now we talk neighboor :) I used "non descript" cheddar. The sort that did not advertise country of origin :( About 180g of it. With 120g of Comté and 60g of parmesan. No sodium citrate ; that's a new one for me. that with 375g of small pasta so not quite in the ratio you mention.
Yep, it's hard for the European mind to accept that much cheese in a sauce, I suspect we aren't the only two Eurowankers to have made that mistake. The citrate is to emulsify the water and fats in the sauce so they stay mixed together, quite useful also for European-style sauces. All recipes agree on half of the cheese, at least, being cheddar, there's variation on the rest. In my case the mozzarella is there for texture, each of the others added its own touch to the flavour, that I found rich and balanced. Parmesan sounded also great, and not really pricier than the others over here, but it would've been too many and I had to choose. I used Italian pasta, radiatori specifically (this was the first time I bought them, literal wee pasta radiators lol) which held the sauce very well, it's gonna be in the oven for a bit so don't overcook it or it'll end up soft.
We also have cheese heavy recipes and we're top on the cheese production just this recipe didn't click... I refuse to get beaten by this cheesy failure... Your base is also a béchamel right? Butter / flour / milk? If so can you share your cheese to milk ratio as well?
Yes, bechamel based, but I can't tell the ratio, I only took note of the cheese. I go a lot by vibes and, as I usually do, looked up a bunch of recipes on the internet and took from here and there what felt right... sorry.
Truthfully, when my family makes a good mac & cheese here in America, we go a lot by vibes too. You got the base and that’s what’s important.
Oi! I found this comment, that was the one that enlightened me. But as I said, I might've not followed this one, or not to the letter, tho.
Thanks for the shout-out! I'm glad others are learning the "secrets"