# The perfect macaroni and cheese **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [July 18, 2025, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perfect-macaroni-and-cheese/1021049 "2025-07-18T16:15:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2025, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perfect-macaroni-and-cheese/1021049/61 "2025-07-23T20:20:26Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > I used the version I linked before as a base, with about half sharp cheddar and half mozz, with a touch of smoked gouda only (wife doesn’t love it as much as I do). It has cayenne, red chile flakes, roasted and diced fresh jalapenos, 3 large scallions diced, as well as the usual onion powder, garlic powder and mustard powder. Sounds like a mac n cheese I’d actually eat! My sister is a huge fan of smoked gouda, but not of a lot of peppers. I’ve been acclimatizing her palate to spicier foods over the years, and she’s able to tolerate a lot more than she used to, but it can’t be scoville-bragging hot or even near. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2025, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perfect-macaroni-and-cheese/1021049/62 "2025-07-23T20:33:16Z")
Well, I’m aware that my desires for capsicums (especially the hotter varieties) is on the higher side of the populations bell curve - and while the wife likes them, they can and do occasionally cause her digestive upset, which she tries to avoid when chunks of her day end up in the fab’s clean room. So I went with a variety of “less-hot but still tasty” options to keep the aggregate heat low. Of course, that just meant I topped my servings with some homemade hot sauce and peri-peri for an extra bit of heat and a lovely contrasting flavor element. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2025, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perfect-macaroni-and-cheese/1021049/63 "2025-07-23T22:26:30Z")
Thick noodles, thick cheese and black pepper. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2025, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perfect-macaroni-and-cheese/1021049/64 "2025-07-25T21:51:22Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > the higher side of the populations bell curve ? The highest part of a bell curve is where the most common outcomes cluster. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2025, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perfect-macaroni-and-cheese/1021049/65 "2025-07-25T21:53:54Z")
I wasn’t clear, what I was trying to say was on the bell curve of capsicum love, I was on the opposite side of the bell curve from **puzzlegal** , the side of the curve that had a _strong_ preference for Higher heat. But my post was muddled in trying to express both of those thoughts simultaneously. 🙇 ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2025, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perfect-macaroni-and-cheese/1021049/66 "2025-07-25T22:02:16Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > But my post was muddled in trying to express both of those thoughts simultaneously. 😆 The **high** -heat end, which is, ironically, a low cluster. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2025, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perfect-macaroni-and-cheese/1021049/67 "2025-07-25T22:07:13Z")
My grandmother was so far on the other side of the scale she thought mayo was too spicy. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2025, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perfect-macaroni-and-cheese/1021049/68 "2025-07-25T22:18:46Z")
Mayo? From the vinegar? Or was that just a joke that i took literally? ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2025, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perfect-macaroni-and-cheese/1021049/69 "2025-07-25T22:21:28Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > My grandmother was so far on the other side of the scale she thought mayo was too spicy. My mother was like that too. The only spices she had were pepper, salt, and paprika-- well, in her 30s, she bought some cinnamon, but kept it on a different shelf. And that jar lasted several years. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2025, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perfect-macaroni-and-cheese/1021049/70 "2025-07-25T22:24:06Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > I wasn’t clear, what I was trying to say was on the bell curve of capsicum love, I was on the opposite side of the bell curve from **puzzlegal** , the side of the curve that had a _strong_ preference for Higher heat. But my post was muddled in trying to express both of those thoughts simultaneously. > > 🙇 Yes, well, i despise capsaicin in all its forms, but i tolerate a bit of mustard, and eat horseradish and wasabi and black pepper in moderation, and i love ginger and sometimes chew on cinnamon sticks. It’s really capsaicin that i think is the work of the devil. As a child i avoided other spicy foods, but now that my sense of taste is weaker, i enjoy most spices, including ones that are often called “hot” or “warm”. And yes, i do think my childhood aversion to many of the stronger spices was based on them just tasting more aggressive to me than they taste to most people. (I still won’t eat McDonald’s hamburgers because i had one as a kid and hated the mustard and onions.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perfect-macaroni-and-cheese/1021049.md?page=3)