Another recipe from 1784 stated that the small tubes of macaroni must be boiled, then drained in a sifter before being moved to a frying pan. Raffald's recipe is for a Béchamel sauce with cheddar cheese-a Mornay sauce in French cooking-which is mixed with macaroni, sprinkled with Parmesan, and baked until bubbly and golden.
The first modern recipe for macaroni and cheese was included in Elizabeth Raffald's 1770 book, The Experienced English Housekeeper. take cheese and grate it and add it and cast butter beneath and above as with losyns, and serve forth. Cast them in boiling water and seethe them well. Make a thin foil of dough and carve it in pieces. This is the above recipe in modern English:
take cheese and grate it and butter cast bynethen and above as losyns. and kerve it on pieces, and cast hem on boiling water & seeþ it well. The recipe given (in Middle English) was: It was made with fresh, hand-cut pasta which was sandwiched between a mixture of melted butter and cheese. A cheese and pasta casserole known as makerouns was recorded in the 14th-century medieval English cookbook, the Forme of Cury. Pasta and cheese casseroles were recorded in the 14th century in the Italian cookbook, Liber de Coquina, which featured a dish of Parmesan and pasta.
