Where to buy South Africa's creamiest, cheesiest macaroni cheese

29 January 2017 - 02:00 By Hilary Biller

Our panel of judges tasted their way through macaroni cheese from four leading supermarkets in a quest to find SA's best

HOW WE CONDUCTED OUR TASTE TEST

We invited 30 Sunday Times Food readers to act as judges.

They were presented with four supermarket house brands of macaroni cheese - with no branding - on separate plates. They were heated according to the manufacturers' instructions.

It was interesting to note that three of the samples carried only microwave instructions for cooking. Only one recommended oven baking.

To ensure the taste test was fair, auditor Stephanie Pardoe was on hand to monitor the process, from removing the packaging and numbering the samples to the preparation and judging. Pardoe also collated the scores.

THE RESULTS

First place: Woolworths 1kg Macaroni Cheese

Judges' comments: It looked appealing, with a brown crust as it was baked in the oven. The pasta was coated in a creamy sauce, which some tasters said could do with more cheese. The pasta was a little doughy but overall it was declared a good mac ’n cheese.

Price: R99.99

Second place: Checkers 300g Macaroni Cheese

Judges' comments: It was considered to have a good consistency . The sauce, which tasted like it contained processed cheese, was strong and described as flavoursome. In terms of looks, a taster described it as a “monotone mess”. The shape of the pasta made it easy for the sauce to penetrate the pasta.

Price: R36.99

story_article_right1

Third place: Pick n Pay 300g Macaroni Cheese

Judges' comments: It looked appetising but lacked flavour and the pasta was described as chewy. The appearance was disappointing and some said it tasted better than it looked. It lacked seasoning. Some tasters questioned if cheese powder was used in making the sauce.

Price: R38

Fourth place: SPAR 325g Macaroni Cheese

Judges' comments: It had a good cheese topping and was the only macaroni tested that contained tomato, but was very dry with insufficient sauce. Most found it the least enjoyable of the samples.