How to Make Macaroni Cheese - The Victorian Way 

Thank you for watching and for all your generous support. Here’s some answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about this recipe: WHAT IS A SALAMANDER? A salamander, as well as being a fire-breathing dragon, was a large flattish lump of metal on a long stick. Heated until red-hot in a fire, it was used to brown the tops of things, with the radiant heat acting like a modern-day grill or broiler. THIS LOOKS REALLY DRY! Try it, and see! Cooking the pasta in milk (or indeed stock) makes the pasta very moist, and the copious quantities of butter also helps to lubricate the dish. Some recipes from the era add a little cream - but not much. The sauce-based recipes which are more familiar to us today, especially when thickened with flour, are much later. For many people, the secret to a good macaroni and cheese is the mixture of crisp pasta, grilled cheese and the slightly gooier texture within. This is sublime if those are the criteria. WHY IS THERE HARDLY ANY SEASONING? These are historic recipes. There is no right or wrong in cooking, merely personal taste, and the changing fashions of the passing decades. If you are making this at home you can, of course vary the seasonings or herbs as you desire. However, this is intended as a plain side dish, not a main course, and as such strong flavourings are not so important. WHEN WAS MACARONI AND CHEESE INVENTED? The combination of cheese and pasta goes back to the roman era: macaroni (which at the time meant any form of pasta) and cheese as named was mid-late 18th century. European immigrants took the concept to America (where the first published recipe books were generally American editions of British books), and as the two countries diverged, different versions of the same dish emerged in each country. WHY WAS PARMESAN CHEESE USED? Parmesan was generally used in recipes for macaroni and cheese: you can use cheddar, but at the time cheddar was one among many hundreds of British cheeses (sadly very few survived the food regime of the Second World War), and was not much used in cookery - and the popular cheshire cheese, which was, does not brown so well.

"a drizzle of butter" has the same energy as "two shots of vodka"

Mrs Crocombe: *walks in* *sniffs air* I t s m e l l s L i k e p o o r I n h e r e

The irony is nowadays we all cook servant’s food for our *fancy dinner* So we’re basically: *below servants*

“When I was a child a macaroni was a word for a overdressed gentleman, a flamboyant gentlemen” Is...is macaroni a Victorian gay slur

Me: mac and cheese with sauce is great Mrs Crocombe: disgusting Me: disgusting

Lmao the dishes I can afford doing are always the ones for the servants.

"I think this recipe is a century old, even older than Queen Victoria." THE SHADE OF IT ALL!

Did the cook just call me OLD!

That sadness when Queen Crocombe judges you because you’re flamboyant and put sauce on your macaroni.

Boss: “Why are you late to work?” Me: “Mrs. Crocombe needed my help in the kitchen today.” Boss: “Fair enough.”

nobody: college students: *WRITE THAT DOWN WRITE THAT DOWN*

how did I MISS THIS JEWEL

I need a Mrs. Crocombe Uncensored series. I can tell she's ready to go off about sauce on macaroni

The thought of sauce on her macaroni cheese was so revolting Mrs. Crocombe couldn't even find the right words 😂❤

"It needs a nice, golden-brown, crisp top" Who doesn't, Mrs. Crocombe

It's so interesting to see that you had to break the macaroni instead of having it already made of small pieces like now

ily sis but that’s a macaroni biscuit.

Mrs. Crocombe: macaroni means overdressed or flamboyant man *screaming in gay* I’m macaroni

I tried this recipe since we don't run out of pasta during quarantine and might I say that this recipe is divine! I use to LOVE saucy mac and cheese but I ought to try Mrs.Crocombre's version to try something new and I absolutely loved it, it's crispy on the top and very juicy in the inside, it has a very light and salty taste so we ate it with salad and chips! (fries) thankyou so much!

She knew I was watching when she was talking about a flamboyant gentleman when she looked at the camera and laughed I swear she looked into my soul like i see you with your floral print crop tops

Is noone gonna say anything about the fact that it filled the whole pan when it went in and was a thin slate of cheesy judgemental pavement when it came out?

I always love how she is slightly startled when she recognizes us in her kitchen LOL!

“Tastes a bit uh” *makes an unpleasant face* “ _this_ is much letter and overall better “

"Yankee Doodle went to town riding on a pony Stuck a feather in his cap and called it Macaroni." Well now, that makes sense!!

Okay soo I was not prepared to learn that mac and cheese was a thing in the victorian ages..

Me who just got home from school: I'm so tired I'm gonna sleep Mrs. Crocombe: Would you like to rethink that statement?

Well, I don’t why this woman keeps showing up on my feed, but I finally watched and now she is my favorite person in the world.

“Some people pour a sauce over their macaroni and this makes it a bit um *smack smack*..... this is better”

I love how she looks like she’s surprised to see us. Like come on lady, we watch you cook all the time

I haven't seen anyone cooking pasta in milk for thirty years. Thanks for reminding me of this delicious pasta preparation. Nowadays, the most common is to cook in water.💖👏

“A little drizzle of butter”:pours twenty gallons of butter

The comment section be like: *Full of servants*

"This recipe is lighter, more suitable as a side dish" Me : I shall replace grams of cheese and butter with ounces then

Her voice is so soothing to my ears.

I always like how she double takes and says “Oh hello!” 😊

"It's served as a side dish" Me, planning to eat the whole thing for dinner: 😧

The Corona virus couldn't even survive Mrs. Crocombe's victorian burns.

These ingredients make Alfredo sauce minus the breadcrumbs Must work then ✨

“Stuck a feather in his cap and called it macaroni” hmmmmm 🧐 (after she explained what a macaroni meant lol)

Ingredients: Peasant souls, 3 table spoons, Peasant tears, 500 ml, Peasant will, 200 ml.

Someone: How much butter do you use for your dishes? Mrs Crocombe: yES

“A drizzle of butter” legit has the same meaning as “two shots of vodka”. Mrs. Crocombe’s “two shots of vodka” is equivalent to Gordon Ramsay’s “Sprinke of salt”

I know it's not very Victorian but I made a vegan version of this recipe with vegan butter and milk and cheese. It turned out really well!

For anyone who could be interested: this type of macaroni is actually called “ziti” and it’s used in some traditional pasta dishes in Italy! (Source: trust me I’m Italian 😂)

“yankee doodle went to town riding on a pony, stuck a feather in his hat and called it macaroni” Oh my god it makes so much sense now!!!

4:15 she really held back that burn 💀

Wow! I'm from the US. I really, really like this approach to mac and cheese. No cream! It looks almost like a type of toast, a cheesy, buttery, crunchy piece of pasta. Thanks!

"A drizzle of melted butter" - Pours over cup after cup 🧐

That awkward moment when your Victorian mac and cheese comes out looking like a breaded porkchop.

Honestly the term “macaroni” need to come back. Name a higher praise, I dare you.

I tried it today. And it was crunchy, butterry, smooth, surprisingly light. But I used English cheddar. And sprinkled a bit of grated cheese on top of the molten and broiled parts, for an extra kick

"For this recipe you will need..." My favourite 6 words. I love these recipes!! And I love her definition of 'drizzle' 😁

Mrs. Crocombe is my kind of butter drizzler.

Gordon Ramsay : "It's very dry"

That lil giggle at the end of when she said macaroni meant a “flamboyant gentleman” 😂😅🤣

"This is lighter and simpler" *takes out a brick of parmesean with noodles in it*

"Macaronis" were young men in the 18th century who had spent time in Italy, perhaps doing the "grand tour". and dressed like over-the-top fashionistas or "dandies." "Yankee Doodle Dandy" was a song that actually made fun of the American colonists, "Yankee doodle went to town riding on a pony, stuck a feather in his cap and called it macaroni" -- in other words, "these colonials are such rubes that they think they're high-fashion by just having feathers in their hats!"

Mac and cheese has had a glow up now

That part where she added more macaroni was a real twist, it really surprised me and I got almost scared.

I think you should reconsider that sauce Mrs Crocombe

“Some of my favorite recipes were written last century... before _even_ Queen Victoria was born.” THE SHADE Not even the Queen is safe!

Her breaking the macaroni is so soothing

I know it looks dry, but since the macaroni is already cooked and still has moisture in it, when it's baked, the butter and little water in the noodles will gently steam the cheese and make it like greasy and soft underneath the crispy parm-bread crumb top.

Gets a notification on how to make Mac cheese as I’m eating Mac cheese...for breakfast, with sauce...knows all that shade was thrown my way.

Why is no one talking about that intro??? I love how they're incorporating all the people in the Victorian Way universe!

Me: Ima make some mac n cheese for dinner Mrs Cromcobe: Macaroni Cheese is a side dish Me: Yes.

When she just put it on the plate, I thought: “Is that cookie cake?”

I love reading the comments here and seeing how beloved Mrs. Crocombe is... and how much everyone enjoys Mrs Crocombes disapproval xD I would try this version of Mac n cheese, I have a big problem with sauces ... but I would sneak more cheese in there and bacon... and accidentally forget the breadcumbs

Mrs crocombe: it’s better without sauce *presents viewer with a slab of pavement* Me: hmm

For anyone who wants to try another historic macaroni recipe that looks more appealing to modern tastes, this one is really good: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-hV-yHbbrKRA.html

Something clearly went wrong with the recipe after it was put in the oven xD! There's NO way the fillings would reduce down that much!

remember that macaroni is the general word for many types of PASTAR

Was anyone else ‘today years old’ to learn that the Victorians ate Mac and Cheese?!

this are the most dried macaroni that i have seen in my life

Mrs Crocombe, thank you so much for your time and recipe. I am so grateful to English Heritage effort to preserve the good story of England and bring it to life.

If Mrs Crocombe hates sauce on her macaroni all of us hate sauce on our macaroni. It’s Mrs Crocombe’s world, we’re all just living in it

Yay! She’s back. ☺️ The new intro is lovely. We even catch a glimpse of our apple lad.

"Some of my favourite recipes were written last century, before even Queen Victoria was born." She's not saying Queen Victoria was born in the previous century. Queen Victoria was born in 1819, so those recipes were much older than she was.

Scrolling through comments: What do people mean, what she does looks fine At the end of the video: OMG! What happened??

The sound the Mac n cheese made when it literally hit the plate 😂✋🏾.

Hey id like to put a statement here that these victorian way videos specialy the ones with Mrs Crocombe have the most wholesome comment sections yall guys are cool, i like you

I like how she makes everything so smooth and no mess.

There should be a restaurant dedicated to Mrs Crocombe’s recipes! This looks fucking delicious!

My brain: you should go to sleep RU-vid: oh look a recipe that you don't need but in the Victorian way That's a lot of likes omg thank you sm 🤧🤧🤧

The actress who plays her..need and Oscar by now lol.

"Served with yesterdays veggies"hit me like a break

Everything about this video makes me extremely happy. Very well made!

I found that “ before even Queen VIctoria was born” comment to be SHAAAAAADE SIS

What I've learned so far is that the calling someone a 'macaroni' in the 1800's is basically calling them 'extra'

What a delightful series!

Usually I would be blown away by the unusual recipe, but this one... I think my roommates in college and I would make this whenever we had nothing else in the fridge but butter and cheese, which was often

I thoroughly went from "oh cool, I know how to make mac'n'cheese" to baffled and intrigued starting at cooking the noodles with milk. This is so cool. I'll have to try this myself.

My macaroni cheese has come a long way from the Victorian era.

this is really helpful to get sleep. so peaceful and calm. i love this video. thanks.

These are honestly sooo calming

That looks drier than desert sand without 6 months of rain

Audley End house is so nice, I like that Mrs. C recipes are preserved

I love this series. It definitely lifted my mood during covid and lockdowns. :)

I thoroughly love these videos. She is truly magic. The small amount of macaroni she put in the pot to boil suddenly bloomed into a feast of macaroni on the preperation table only to drop by more than half in the finished product (as she's cutting into it).