CHARLOTTSVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – The Jefferson Council steps into some trouble on social media about a 2015 Epicurious video. The video outlines how Thomas Jefferson became intrigued in Europe with the elbow pasta and brought it to Virginia… later serving it even at Presidential dinners. The Jefferson Council comment on the video asks “author of Declaration of Independence, father of the University of Virginia, and inventor of macaroni and cheese?”

However, Amazon Prime’s 2022 documentary “James Hemings: Ghost In America’s Kitchen” by culinary historian Ashbell McElveen outlines how Jefferson’s enslaved brother-in-law was taken to France and trained how to make European cuisine Jefferson desired… which includes macaroni and cheese.

Click here to see the Epicurous video.
Click here to see Ashbell McElveen’s documentary.