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Macaroni and Cheese
I was making the kids some macaroni and cheese for lunch and naturally got to wondering: "When did mac 'n cheese have it's FirstMention?" I've really got to get a new hobby. Turns out that macaroni and cheese seems to have come into its own as a dish of note in the mid-1800's. Not that macaroni had never been combined with cheese before that time, but usually, it was in combination with other ingredients...a few tomatoes, some sausage...things like that. But suddenly, in the 1870's, macaroni and cheese starts showing up all over the place; in advertisements, stories, news articles, home economics courses, and eventually, in grocery stores. The very first FirstMention that I came across is the lovely menu from Nahant House in Lynn, Mass., which is dated July 25, 1859. You can just see it there as the first entree, but you can get easily get a better look at the Baked Macaroni and Cheese on the menu with just a click (check out the bottom of the menu, where it tells you tea is served from "6 1/2 to 8 1/2 o' clock"!). Nahant and Lynn, both coastal towns outside of Boston, were happening places in the middle of the 19th century. And as the cover of the above menu suggests, the Nahant House was an elegant part of the action. If you were dining on mac and cheese in 1859, you weren't slummin'. You can read a bit about the Nahant music scene at the time, and By George, I do believe they feature the Nahant House itself on the Dancing by the Shore image. I wonder if they dined on macaroni and cheese after dancing the Nahant Waltz? And for some other options for hearty, healthy and frugal fare, check out some of these folks: Know of an earlier FirstMention? Drop us a line at david@firstmention.com New from FirstMention...Search old newspapers for free! When was the first time a well-known word or phrase was put in print? FirstMention.com explores the history and origins of famous names and places, companies, brands, products, and familiar words, phrases and sayings. |
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