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a smooth sauce as a base—in this case, it’s a velvety béchamel made of butter, flour, milk, and cream. And you need to make sure the cheese melts evenly and becomes one with that sauce. Firm cheeses like cheddar, Comté, fontina, and Gruyère are reliable choices. Let the cheese come to room temperature before you use it, shred it as finely as possible, and heat it gently with the sauce; a blast of high heat can cause proteins in the cheese to separate from the fats, resulting in a macaroni and cheese that’s both grainy and oily.

A volunteer plates spaghetti with homemade tomato sauce at the Sacred Heart Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. The church has been hosting its biannual Italian Spaghetti and Ravioli Dinner since 1910.

Figaretti’s “Godfather II” Linguine

This dish, a mainstay at Figaretti’s restaurant in Wheeling, West Virginia, is Italian-American cooking at its bighearted, bountiful best: shrimp and mussels, peppers and tomatoes, fresh basil, white wine, and silky linguine.

Kosher salt, to taste

8 oz. dried linguine

½ cup extra-virgin olive oil

½ cup chopped green bell pepper

½ cup chopped red bell pepper

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 small yellow onion, chopped

1/3 cup white wine

8 mussels, scrubbed and debearded

½ cup halved cherry tomatoes

2 tbsp. unsalted butter

8 large shrimp, peeled and deveined

8 leaves basil, torn, plus more for garnish Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

½ cup grated Asiago cheese

4 lemon wedges

Serves 2

1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the linguine; cook until al dente, 8–10 minutes. Drain the pasta; reserve ¼ cup pasta water.

2. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the green and red peppers, garlic, and onion; cook until they begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Add the wine and the mussels; cook, covered, until the mussels open, about 2 minutes. Add reserved pasta water, tomatoes, butter, and shrimp and cook, stirring, until the shrimp are just pink, about 1 minute. Add the cooked linguine, toss to combine, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens and clings to the pasta. Stir in the basil and season with salt and pepper.

3. Divide pasta between 2 bowls. Sprinkle with more basil and Asiago and garnish with lemon wedges.

America’s First Food Critic

I first learned about the great Italian-American fare at Figaretti’s in West Virginia by reading an old guidebook written by Duncan Hines. Today, Duncan Hines is invariably associated with the boxed cake mixes that bear his name, but before he started hawking mass-produced food products in the 1950s, he reigned as one of the country’s most influential restaurant critics. In the days before Zagat Surveys, the words “Recommended by Duncan Hines” were a seal of approval proudly displayed outside restaurants across the country. Duncan Hines was born in Bowling Green, Kentucky, in 1880. He first got the idea of reviewing restaurants for travelers when he was working as a salesman for printing businesses; driving around the country to meet with clients, he filled a notebook with thoughts about his favorite places to eat along the way. Hines published the first Adventures in Good Eating guide in 1936. The guide was a bestseller and was updated every year until 1962. In 1949, Hines launched a line of products on the strength of his steadfast reputation; ice cream came first, followed by the popular cake mixes. Today, I continue to take inspiration from his simple mission: to introduce travelers to “the refinements of good living, while seeing America.”—Todd Coleman

Everyday Fried Noodles

Tian Tian Chao Mian

In this Beijing-style noodle stir-fry, ingredients go into the wok in a measured progression so that each one cooks to the point of optimal flavor and texture. Carrots and onions are stir-fried just long enough to reveal their sweetness; pork, ginger, and garlic release their fragrance into the hot oil; then soy sauce, rice wine, and sugar cook down quickly into a sauce that clings to the noodles, which get a final toss in the wok