Weigel

And God Said to Pat Robertson, “Do Not Let My Children Have a Slow News Day”

Pat Robertson asks a CBN reporter to explain why Condoleezza Rice is so fond of mac and cheese at Thanksgiving. “Is it a black thing?”
Robertson is from Virginia, and I’m frankly unaware of whether or not white Virginians have adopted the same soul food traditions as black Virginians. Speaking as a white person from Delaware, I definitely didn’t have mac and cheese at my childhood celebrations of turkey, pilgrims, and ennui. Only when I moved to D.C. and made a bunch of gourmand friends did I start seeing mac and cheese on Thanksgiving. A useful New York Times map of recipe searches informs me that mac and cheese really is only a Thanksgiving staple in the old Confederacy, the old border states, Ohio, Indiana, and Nevada. Screen shot 2011-11-23 at 3.17.13 PM You’d think if mac and cheese was a “black thing,” it would do better in Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, all of which have respectable black populations. Is Robertson right? Did he just miss a food trend? I open up the thread.