Every year, Mattlie Lowery gets up before sunrise to prepare a Thanksgiving feast. She has an extensive family tree of children, cousins, siblings, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews, making this task no small feat.
What’s on the menu? Mac and cheese, collard greens, rutabaga, cornbread, potato salad, black-eyed peas, and pecan ice cream for dessert. The entire process takes hours and hours of toiling in the kitchen and constant watching the clock to make sure every dish is cooked to perfection. This might turn off the average person, but the process is fueled by the deep roots of Southern traditions and shaped by generations of African American cooking.
Lowery, my Augusta-born great-grandmother, puts heart and soul into her cooking not just for family gatherings and holidays, but for every homemade dinner. This is the heart behind food in the South.
Thanksgiving is one of the most celebrated holidays in the United States, acting as a time for family gatherings and an excuse to eat lavish meals. Though its origins trace back to the Massachusetts coast in the early 1600s, this holiday, with its strong sense of community, was well-suited to reaching the people of the South. For the growing African American population, the holiday was more than a time of giving thanks. The reasons behind their traditions were unique and shaped by the tensions of the time.
The African American Registry shares how sermons and churches were a big part of their celebrations. In addition, they had traditions linked to the changing weather patterns: “rejoicing over the rain breaking droughts for a plentiful harvest.”
Most notably, however, enslaved African Americans would often use Thanksgiving, even before Abraham Lincoln declared it a national holiday, to escape to the North and celebrate their newfound freedom. This celebration of unity remains today. After interviewing a few teens from different backgrounds, they all had a common lasting memory of Thanksgiving.
VOX ATL contributor, Corey Patterson, shared, “I have memories of my mom making marshmallow sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving just about every year I can remember. It always smells so captivating, and you can smell it from any corner of the house.”
Andrea Hill, 18, also said, “Most of my southern food memories are from spending Thanksgiving at my grandmother’s house. The whole extended family would tell stories and catch up over plates of mac and cheese and greens with black-eyed peas.”
Growing up in a Black household, mac and cheese was always a staple at holiday dinners. Behind its creamy roux, buttered macaroni noodles, and rich red paprika topping is the story of a man who cooked his way to freedom.
Born into slavery in 1765, James Hemings could blend a cacophony of flavors. Being a Black chef in the U.S. during this period was uncommon, especially for enslaved people. Michael Twitty, a culinary historian, has repeatedly hailed Hemings as the inventor of mac and cheese.
Interviews with former slaves mention that they used only kettles, skillets, and ovens for regular cooking, a fact documented in the WPA Slave Narrative Collection and at James Madison’s Montpelier. This limited cookware made it difficult to create even the simplest dishes like mac and cheese. But Hemings brought the then-called “Macaroni Pie” to the United States, and the rest was history. Because of his culinary expertise, he was appointed as Thomas Jefferson’s personal chef and granted freedom.
For Hemings, cooking dishes like mac and cheese represented liberation and the opportunity to live as a free man rather than an object to be bought or sold.
It’s been more than 200 years since the dish was brought to America, and mac and cheese is still one of the top dishes for the dinner table.
My mother, Mona Wilson, says, “Mac and cheese is one of those meals that just brings everyone together. It’s not just for Thanksgiving in our house— we’ll make it anytime, just because.”
In July of 2025, the frozen food brand Main Street Bistro conducted an independent survey of 1,000 Americans. The results show that “54% eat macaroni & cheese weekly, 86% say it’s an “adult” food, not just for kids, nearly 1 in 3 (32%) name it their top comfort side.”
Though it is most enjoyed homemade, boxed versions have made the dish more affordable for dining on a budget. Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, for example, reportedly sells over a million boxes a day, making it one of the most consumed food brands. As of 2026, a 7.25oz box can sell for $1.24 on Walmart. This inexpensive box serves 3.5 people and can be used with SNAP benefits, making it perfect for low-income households looking to feed their families.
This macaroni frequency is present in households and in restaurants. Fast food chains like Chick-fil-A, Popeyes, and KFC all serve cheesy noodles on their menus. These food spots are also widely frequented in the South, with Chick-fil-A and Popeyes ranking among the top 10 most popular fast-food chains in Georgia as of 2026.
With an average cost of $3.50-$5, mac and cheese is cheap even outside the home.
In addition, the dish’s versatility has made it adaptable across other cultures. Anginelle Victor, who is a second-generation Haitian high schooler, said, “We specifically make baked mac and cheese with peppers and five different cheeses.”
My great-grandmother’s cooking has given my family and me a lifetime of memories. When taking a bite of the starchy goodness, you are transported to a different time, a happier time when life wasn’t so complex. That is the heart of Southern cooking.
My mom, Mona, concluded, “It’s more than just recipes — it’s comfort and family. It’s the memories that I get to carry forward.”
