Don’t Go to Italy Looking for Spaghetti Bolognese.
There’s nothing like the comfort of a plate of pasta with bolognese sauce. Most of the world knows it as Spaghetti Bolognese. But in Italy, you probably can’t find that dish – perhaps only in tourist traps. Learn the real bolognese history and what to look for on your next trip to Italy.
All About the Bolognese History
About the Sauce
Bolognese comes from the town of Bologna, Italy in the late 18th century. The bolognese is a ragù sauce. In Italy, ragù has regional variations all around the country with bolognese as one of them.
Ragù comes from the French word “ragout” referring to stews of meat and vegetables cooked over low heat for a long time. The influence of this cooking style spread to the kitchens of the Neapolitan Bourbon Court and the Vatican in the 1700s.
With bolognese sauce in Bologna, it is never made with spaghetti pasta. Rather, it is either with tagliatelle, which is the traditional pasta from the Emilia-Romagna region, or lasagne.
First Written Recipe
The first written recipe of bolognese was found in 1891 from Pellegrino Artusi’s cookbook, The Science of Cooking and the Art of Eating Well.
The cookbook has nearly 800 recipes from all over Italy, and it is still considered one of the most famous Italian cookbooks of modern times.
Artusi learned the recipe from Alberto Alvisi, the cook of the local cardinal who would later become Pope Pius VII.
The recipe, called Maccheroni alla Bolognese, entailed a lean cut of veal filet, pancetta, butter, onion, carrot, celery, broth, flour, nutmeg, and salt and pepper. Artusi suggested adding mushrooms and a little cream in the end before serving the sauce with pasta and parmigiano.
Making it Official
By the early 20th century, many southern Italians moved from their home country to the Americas. It is around this time period when spaghetti bolognese was believed to have been made and popularized.
Because of the international love for “Spaghetti Bolognese,” the Italian Academy of Cuisine register an official recipe for ragù alla bolognese with the Bologna Chamber of Commerce in 1982. This ensured that the recipe would not be further butchered.
The recipe called for beef cut from the plate section, unsmoked pancetta, onions, carrots, celery, tomato puree, meat broth, dry wine (red or white), milk, salt and pepper. The sauce cooks over low heat for at least two hours.
It is important to note that the quantity of tomato is very limited, only a few spoons. And, there is absolutely no addition of garlic, herbs, ketchup, or Worcestershire sauce.
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