Sam Gugino is a guy after my own heart. He is passionate about cheese and wine and writes about both with a refreshing style which is big on detail, anecdotes and liberal doses of humour.
By Mark Mair
In the November 2012 edition of the Wine Spectator he waxes lyrical about a dish that can be either the dullest, blandest and most totally tasteless, or with some imagination, rated as the ultimate gourmet-style comfort food.
A lot of Americans (and there are a lot of them, about 400 million plus at last count), due to their hectic lives rely on instant meals and takeaways, so the general perception of macaroni cheese could be one of a dish that borders on the blander side of bland.
And that’s putting it nicely. At worst it’s a congealed mass of pasta, flour, preservative and processed cheese, a major carbo boost by spoonful after indigestible spoonful. At best, it can be a delightful, balanced but rich meal that includes a diverse and very delicious range of ingredients.
One thing about good old Mac and Cheese, even a “culinarily challenged” member of the male species can try his hand at it. However, if you are one of those who burn the boiled eggs, best be satisfied by being an “involved spectator” during the cooking process!
Like all things cheese and wine, balance is the key. There’s no avoiding the fact that this is a rich dish. We’re talking Donald Trump / Alan Sugar / Sultan of Brunei rich here. Liberal quantities of full fat cream, full fat milk, first grade butter, full fat, strong aged cheese, add-ins like bacon, chorizo sausage, salami, sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms, peas, chilli, truffle oil and whatever else you can retrieve from the pantry or freezer. The only limiting factor would be the breadth of your culinary imagination. Oh yes, not forgetting the macaroni.
Roughage is not an option with this dish and would be a total imposter, so bin those whole wheat varieties, put the quest for health at all costs on hold, and reach for the ultra-refined ultra-white flour types of elbow or penne, small shell or rigatoni pastas. If too big (large shells) or too small (Orzo) the balance — there’s that word again — is out of kilter. So if you are currently on a low fat, low GI, low everything that tastes nice diet regime, best you stop reading and turn the page right now!
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One of the must-haves in a good macaroni cheese is a great white sauce, which isn’t that complicated to make, unless you are one of the unfortunate individuals who held their hands up when I mentioned the words “culinarily” and “challenged” earlier.
Another ingredient which renders this whole dish irrelevant if left out is, of course, the cheese. Mounds of the stuff, and not just any old cheese either. This is the chance to add good, strong, meaty cheddars or heady aromatics like Dutch Fontina or best of all, Kefalos Vintage Gouda.
A colleague of mine refers to cheese that has a bit of “bite” as cheese that has got “sound”. The Vintage Gouda has so much “sound” that eating it is like being in the front row of the orchestra pit. Normally dishes calling for the addition of cheese recommend a bland type so as not to detract from the other flavours, but with this particular dish, cheese is king — so go wild. Even blue cheese as a topping is great.
A breadcrumb and Parmesan mix as a topping on the “big Mac” is also brilliant to finish it off.
Mix the fine ground parmesan together with the bread crumbs and pop under the grill for a few minutes to achieve a great nutty flavoured crust. Wines served with macaroni and cheese need a lot of good, crisp acidity to cut through all that cream and richness, so a chilled Chenin or Sauvignon Blanc should do just nicely.
Of course if you want to push the boat out, brut style sparkling wines would fit the bill. For reds, try a chilled Pinot Noir (offerings from Marlborough in New Zealand are currently classified as the world’s finest expression of this variety) but there are some excellent offerings from South African vineyards currently available locally, especially if your macaroni cheese includes mushrooms or truffles, or a nice spicy chunk of Chorizo, and you just haven’t been able to pop down to that New Zealand winery lately!
