A Puzzling Phenomenon

[rj_anderson]

I am thirty-eight years old, with a fairly diverse experience of national and ethnic cuisine and a love of fine restaurants and quality home cooking.

So why does Kraft Dinner still taste so good?

Comments

[lisamantchev.livejournal.com]

Childhood comfort food. And, yanno, nuclear-orange cheese powder for the win. *G*

[mandyhubbard.livejournal.com]

It's called comfort food for a reason. :-)

And it still cracks me up taht they call it "Kraft Dinner" like its a gourmet entree. It's mac 'n cheese. Really, it should be called Kraft Lunch.

[pameladean]

I think it must be the macaroni. I can't eat cheese, but I recently found a recipe from a collection of Depression-era recipes used by Syrian and Lebanese immigrants to Canada. It's a baked macaroni and chickpea casserole, with tomatoes and garlic and cilantro and a pretty hefty dose of allspice, black pepper, and cumin. Not much like cheese sauce, overall. And yet, it comes closer to fulfilling the comfort-food function of macaroni and cheese than anything else I've found aside from actual macaroni and soy cheese. I even used whole-wheat macaroni and it still works.

P.

[capnflynn.livejournal.com]

Oh my goodness, that sounds delicious! Would you mind sharing the recipe at all?

[pameladean]

Of course not. It's probably easiest to just provide the link to the vegan food blog where I found it:

http://veganfeastkitchen.blogspot.com/2008/03/easy-spicy-middle-eastern-pasta-and.html

I find that fresh cilantro is much better than dried in this, and that canned tomatoes work beautifully, and that crushed red pepper works instead of a fresh chili pepper. I double the recipe because I want lots of leftovers, and make it in a 9 x 13 baking pan and just cover it with foil. Oh, and I've also usually used half kidney beans and half chick peas. I hope you like it!

P.

[capnflynn.livejournal.com]

Brilliant! Thanks!

[sannalim.livejournal.com]

Oh this sounds yummy! **prints off recipe**


...But I always hated Kraft Mac & Cheese and only learned to like macaroni and cheese when we got un-poor enough for my mom to start making macaroni and cheese casserole from scratch (by which time I was in my teens).

[sollersuk.livejournal.com]

There are times when only comfort food hits the spot, which is why I keep bread in the freezer and baked beans in the cupboard for the occasions when I really, really have to have baked beans on toast.

[yahtzee63.livejournal.com]

I could kill a whole box of it right now.

I don't actually much like cheese in most of its forms, but fake cheese is the bomb. Once we're talking about Velveeta or something, we're too close to genuine for my taste -- but Kraft Mac & Cheese? Nuclear orange powder? Could eat it all day.

[kizmet-42.livejournal.com]

I can't answer that, but I can agree.

[bluemoon02.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I kinda went off Kraft after hubby made me some macaroni in Canada and it had tiny weavels in it. And some of them survived the boiling/cheesing process.

[sarahcross.livejournal.com]

Mmmm, mac & cheese. It's impossible to outgrow.

[mary-j-59.livejournal.com]

!. Childhood comfort food.
2. Bland and filling, and-
3. Salt, fat and protein, all three of which I sometimes crave. I'd guess most women do, especially if you're largely vegetarian and don't tend to add salt to stuff.

I do far prefer homemade, but another advantage of the boxed stuff (though I usually use Annie's, not Kraft) - it's quick! And everyone likes it! I was very glad to have a box on hand when a friend's children objected to the pasta sauce I had made.

And carbs!

[(Anonymous)]

Don't forget the carbs, which have a soothing effect. A good plate of mac n'cheese does wonders during a bad attack of PMS. Works for me, anyway!

Mary Anne

[ladyjaguar.livejournal.com]

Because some things just can't be explained rationally.

(grin)

There are just some dishes, so proletarian in nature, which are just plain good. Hot dogs. Hamburgers. PB & J.

We can't help ourselves.

It's addictive

[greenhornet.livejournal.com]

Um you didn't know that the folks at craft put crack in it?
I thought that was common knowledge

[dennismhavens.livejournal.com]

Never underestimate the power of comfort food. Thirty-eight? I just turned seventy and still love Kraft Dinner. At some point I invented a south-of-the-border variant, the recipe of which follows if you feel adventurous at some point.

One package of Kraft Dinner
One can of chili, with beans
1/2 stick margarine or butter

Boil the macaroni as always, add margarine/butter
Add the powdered cheese, stir as you always do
In a second pot, warm up the chili; add hot sauce to taste
Pour the entire contents of the chili pot onto the Kraft Dinner

Serves two quite nicely. Double for your children.

I hear KNIFE is out. I'm assuming it's on Amazon.

All the best,
Dennis

[dennismhavens.livejournal.com]

Oops. I make mine with NO milk; I do the same with scrambled eggs. After all, butter comes from the same cow and I think it's a better blending agent. I don't think I want to know where margarine comes from.

D

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the recipe!

Alas no, KNIFE isn't actually out yet -- it's just listed for preorder on Amazon UK, with a pub date of January 2009. Won't be available on this side of the pond until May 2009, though.

Buffett

[(Anonymous)]

That's why Warren Buffett bought into the company!

Regards,
Shawn
sabiagil.blogspot.com

Effortless food

[(Anonymous)]

The son of a friend of mine calls it "easy cheesey" Sometimes you just don't want to fuss. As for the "it's full of preservatives" warning of some of my friends, at my age I need all the preservatives I can get!

SueMo

[cedarlibrarian.livejournal.com]

Because your experience with other foods just expands your list of what you enjoy. It doesn't replace what you already love.

[serenitysoars.livejournal.com]

Damn, that's smart! Here I was reading all the comments and perfectly stumped by the question. But, I do believe you have the answer.

[sarahmaclean.livejournal.com]

because it's made of magic elbows. :)