Macaroni with Parmesan cheese was expensive in Beethoven's day. Macaroni was not the inexpensive staple it is today (it cost three times more than rice) and Parmesan cheese had to be imported from Italy. On page 387 Schindler wrote, "One of his favorite dishes was macaroni and cheese." In the original German text, the dish is called "Macaroni mit Parmesan-Käse." When Beethoven was in the middle of one of his marathon composing sessions, he ordered his housekeepers not to disturb him with such trivialities as food and told them to leave his supper in the room for him to eat whenever he finished.