Mac and Cheese must contain macaroni noodles or it's not mac and cheese, amirite?

It's not a specific shape of noode. It's a specific shape of pasta. Pasta is distinct from noodles, which itself is a distinct thing. Normally I wouldn't care but you opened the door for being exact about pasta naming conventions...

by Doylewyman 2 days ago

No I appreciate it.

by Framieve 2 days ago

Wait, what's the difference between pasta and noodles?

by Otherwise-Fee 2 days ago

Pasta is specifically durum wheat. Noodles are made from lots of different things, none of which is durum wheat. Rice, common wheat, mung beans, even potatoes. Pasta is extruded (that means it's shaped with a machin), whereas Noodles are just rolled out flat and chopped. Pasta is associated with Italy (though it actually comes from Arabia, and Mac and Cheese specifically is a British dish), whereas as noodles come from the Far East.

by Doylewyman 2 days ago

A case could be made, and I might even agree with it, that flat, unextruded pastas like linguine and spaghetti could qualify as noodles. As technically noodles aren't defined by their ingredients (so there is nothing to say noodles can't be made from durum wheat). But a key component that does matter is shape and preparation. So things like macaroni and penne etc cannot be regarded as noodles.

by Doylewyman 2 days ago

Noodles are defined as being made from unleavened dough, rolled flat and cut into strips. Following this description, the only types of pasta that could be truly regarded as noodles are the flat ones that haven't been extruded for such spaghetti, linguine, tagliatelle etc. Things like penne, fusili and macaroni cannot really be regarded as noodles.

by Doylewyman 2 days ago

No? Pulled noodles and knife shaved noodles are not rolled flat but are noodles all the same. Also Spaghetti and Linguine are produced through extrusion from a dial, exactly the same as most shaped pasta. The closest thing to a consensus would be that noodle typically refers to long-shaped doughware but then you have stuff like pizzoccheri, spätzle etc which don't fit the bill.

by Anonymous 2 days ago

Depends where you're from. In the US, pasta is considered a type of noodle. Here in the UK, they are seen as distinct.

by Anonymous 2 days ago

This is a regional thing. In the US pasta is considered a type of noodle. Which seems mental to us in the UK, where they are considered distinct and nobody would ever refer to one as the other.

by Anonymous 2 days ago

The US also calls it a flashlight and calls a game where you carry a ball around "foot"ball. And don't even get me started on biscuits. They can't be trusted mate.

by Doylewyman 2 days ago

Sheesh, pick your battles.

by Anonymous 2 days ago

I'm so conflicted. One of my guilty pleasures is Kraft three cheese Mac and cheese. Which uses shells. I'm usually the language police…but…I've always overlooked the offense. Now that I know I'm not the only one who pays attention to this…

by Special_Meaning 2 days ago

calls macaroni "noodles"

by Anonymous 1 day ago

It doesn't always. It's just like a person saying, Want to go grab coffee? It could mean any drink, not literally coffee.

by Flashy_Box 1 day ago

The first recipes for mac and cheese predate the shape we know of currently as macaroni. Macaroni didn't refer to the shape but the type of pasta. Originally, the shape was a square, then more like fettuccine. I don't think we adopted elbow shaped pasta as the goto until the recipe was brought to America by James Hemings during Thomas Jefferson's presidency and even still it may not have come around until the box stuff.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

"Macaroni is not macaroni unless it's macaroni." Are we trying to pass... objective facts off as "Unpopular Opinions," now?

by Economy_Fox_8418 1 day ago

I kinda see what you mean but at the same time, shape of pasta doesn't change the taste so what's the issue?

by Educational_Pen_9678 1 day ago

I know what you mean but referring to any form of pasta as "noodles" gives me cultural whiplash. Macaroni is a kind of pasta/noodle

by Anonymous 1 day ago

You know what, you're not wrong at all. No matter what it is though, I don't want a big fork/spoon 😂

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Penne and cheese sounds like a medical condition

by Kianacremin 1 day ago

Cavatappi is the idea Mac and cheese noodle shape.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

This kind of thing used to really annoy me too, but then I took a step back and asked myself, "Is anyone confused here?" And the answer is no. The definition of words changes all the time, and that's fine. To look at the more classic example, if I were to say, "The show was so good I was literally glued to my seat." I clearly mean 'figurativly' but there won't be anyone who hears this and goes, "What, how did glue get on your seat?" thinking I actually meant glue was literally involved. Looking at your example, only the weirdest people would order mac and cheese, be given penne and cheese, and freak out like this is wildly confusing. People will see the penne and cheese and understand this is what they ordered.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

That's why it's an unpopular opinion.

by Framieve 1 day ago