“Mac” & Cheese

The other day I ate a delicious truffle mac & cheese with fresh tomato and basil at The York on York in Eagle Rock, CA.

Savory, rich, and satisfying – my only complaint about the dish is that the individual pasta units are decidedly NOT macaroni, but conchigliette!

Macaroni

Conchigliette

In fact, I have noticed an increasing trend among restaurants to advertise their baked pasta/dairy combinations as “mac & cheese” with similar disregard for pasta taxonomy – having now been served orecchiette, farfalle, penne, fusili, rotini, and so on, all masquerading under the “mac” misnomer.

What do you make of this phenomenon? I mean, this isn't Nam – there are rules. Right? Or is my complaint pedantic? I tend to think diners would not suffer similar imprecision with regard to, say, ravioli billed as tortellini, or to linguine touted as fettuccine. How come the word “mac” gets a free pass?

I leave you with Matthew 7:9-10,

Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for bread, will give a stone? Or if the child asks for a fish, will give a snake?