Our journey starts in Italy, of all places. Long before Kraft got involved, the Italians were making a dish called “maccheroni al forno”—baked pasta with cheese and butter. Sound familiar?
The first known recipe for “macaroni and cheese” appears in a 13th-century Italian cookbook called Liber de Coquina. That’s right—your go-to cheat meal is a medieval masterpiece.
But here’s the twist: the pasta itself got its big break thanks to Arab traders who brought dried noodles to Sicily. So technically, mac and cheese has roots in both Europe and the Middle East. Talk about a global citizen!
