Not to be confused with Macaron. The word “macaroni” is often used synonymously with elbow-shaped macaroni, as it is the variety most often used in macaroni salad and cheese recipes. In Italian, maccheroni refers to elongated pasta, not necessarily in tubular form.
This general meaning is still retained outside Rome and in different languages which borrowed the word. The many variants sometimes differ from each other because of the texture of each pasta: rigatoni and tortiglioni, for example, have ridges down their lengths, while chifferi, lumache, lumaconi, pipe, pipette, etc. However, the product as well as the name derive from the ancient Greek “Macaria”. Alessio argues that the word can have two origins. John Dickie instead says that the word macaroni, and its earlier variants like maccheroni, “comes from maccare, meaning to pound or crush.
The word first appears in English as makerouns in the 1390 Forme of Cury, which records the earliest recipe for macaroni and cheese. As is the case with dishes made with other types of pasta, macaroni and cheese is a popular dish and is often made with elbow macaroni. The same dish, known simply as macaroni cheese, is also found in Great Britain, where it originated. In areas with large Chinese populations open to Western cultural influence such as Hong Kong, Macao, Malaysia and Singapore, the local Chinese have adopted macaroni as an ingredient for Chinese-style Western cuisine. Pasta Shapes Dictionary – Pasta Fits”.
