Greek Mac and Cheese

What could be more perfect for Shavuot than a Jewish take on mac and cheese? This Greek dish, hailing from the Jewish community of Komotini in Thrace, is a delicious variation on a beloved crowd-pleasing classic—and it’s relatively simple to prepare.

The holiday of Shavuot, falling seven weeks after the start of Passover, at the end of the seven-week Omer period, commemorates the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. It also marks the end of the barley harvest and the beginning of the wheat harvest, and falls around the time of the first of the two annual fig crops. The holiday is also called Yom ha’Bikkurim, the first day of the year when first fruits could be brought to the temple.

Though there are other symbolic foods, like fruits and flowers—rose water is a popular flavoring in Middle Eastern Shavuot fare—dairy is by far the best-known food tradition associated with the holiday.

There are several reasons why this is the case. One is that the Song of Songs compares the Torah to milk and honey (which is also a customary Shavuot ingredient in some communities). There is also a tradition that after receiving the Torah and the laws of kashrut on Shavuot, the Jews were no longer able to eat the meat they had prepared prior—and, it being Shabbat, they were unable to slaughter animals freshly in accordance with the new rules either.

It’s also the case that late spring was the season for cheese production in many ancient societies, since it is a time when sheep and goats are still feeding their young, and thus producing an abundance of milk.

In Greece—which until WWII was home to substantial populations of both Romaniote Jews (who settled in Greece by the first century BCE, and possibly as early as the Babylonian Exile in the sixth century BCE) and Sephardim (who settled in Greece following the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492)—houses were decorated with flowers and synagogues with sheaves of wheat in honor of the holiday. Main courses for Shavuot meals were usually fish, or pastels (pastries) filled with cheese and spring vegetables like cheese or spinach. Egg dishes were also a common choice among Greek’s Sephardic communities.

This Greek cheesy pasta bake is like a sophisticated macaroni and cheese. It’s dry, not saucy like American mac and cheese, and the combination of feta and Parmesan (or Romano, if you prefer) provides a decidedly different flavor profile from the boxed stuff.

The recipe below is slightly adapted from Nicholas Stavroulakis’s excellent Cookbook of the Jews of Greece, highly recommended if you’re interested in learning more about the country’s Jewish communities.

Greek Mac and Cheese (Komotinea/Makaronia kon leche)

1 lb. macaroni, ziti, penne, or cavatappi

1 cup milk

½ cup crumbled feta

½ cup Parmesan or Romano cheese, divided

1 teaspoon salt

Black pepper to taste

Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the package. Drain and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Heat the milk in a saucepan until it comes to a boil. Add the feta and ¼ cup of the Parmesan/Romano and lower the heat to a low simmer. Stir in the pasta and simmer until all the liquid is absorbed. Add salt and pepper.

Pour pasta into a greased baking dish, preferably 9 x 13. Sprinkle with remaining ¼ cup Parmesan/Romano. Bake until well browned, about 20–30 minutes.

Sources: The Cookbook of the Jews of Greece (Nicholas Stavroulakis, 1986); Encyclopedia of Jewish Food (Gil Marks, 2010); The New Mediterranean Jewish Table: Old World Recipes for the Modern Home (Joyce Goldstein, 2016)

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