Mince and Cheesy Pasta

Macaroni and seasoned beef mince under a white sauce and melted cheese. It is a pasta bake in the international sense, and no country is claimed for it, though the seasoning gives away where this particular version was written. The contributor is South African, and the spicing shows it. Turmeric and curry powder in a beef mince destined for a cheese sauce is not an Italian or an American habit; it is the same instinct that puts curry powder in a South African bobotie or a Durban mince. Worcestershire sauce alongside it is a British inheritance that took firm hold in South African home cooking. The dish itself belongs to nobody in particular, variations of pasta baked with meat and cheese exist everywhere, but the flavouring is specific. The white sauce is the one thing the source leaves you to work out for yourself: it is listed as an ingredient with no quantity and no method. A standard béchamel is what is meant, and the quantity below is a working assumption rather than something taken from the source. The source's description also mentions a crisp breadcrumb topping and a sweet cheese sauce. Neither breadcrumbs nor sugar appears anywhere in the recipe.