A Crock of Bol

The problem with Spaghetti Bolognese, you see, it that it doesn't really exist. Not only that, but it seems that no one can agree on how exactly to make the nonexistent dish.

Let's deal with the first problem. Ragù alla bolognese as most of us outside Italy know it, is a fabricated dish. The real thing, officially (according to the Accademia Italiana della Cucina), is made of beef, onions, carrots, celery, tomato paste, red wine, beef stock, and pancetta. The slow-cooked sauce is almost exclusively served on tagliatelle. In contrast, most of us would expect minced meat in a tomato sauce on spaghetti. Complicating matters is the fact that even the residents of Bologna fail to reach any real consensus on the components of the dish, some adding pork, foul livers, mushrooms, milk, cream, butter, white wine, and even mortadella – Italian blood sausage. There is no “real” spaghetti bolognese.



The second problem, that of no one agreeing on how to make bolognese sauce, can be summed up thus: 88,000 google search results for “spaghetti bolognese recipe.” Nearly everyone I know has their own recipe, method, or idea of what the final product should be and I can't think of two that are exactly alike. Australians, great lovers of the diminutive, refer to it as “spag bol,” and according to everyone I've spoken to, no one makes the sauce quite like mum, whoever your mum may be.

I thought I'd add to the confusion by posting my ragù recipe.



1 kilo beef roast, cut into 2 cm cubes
1 litre of tomato pureé (see below)
2 carrots, peeled and then grated
2 onions, fine dice
2 garlic, fine dice
2 celery, fine dice
12 button mushrooms, fine dice
1 sprig thyme
3 bay leaves
pinch chili
¼ nutmeg, freshly ground, or 1/8 tsp
½ tsp cinnamon
250 ml beef stock
100 ml red wine
2 Tbsp cream

Place a heavy-bottomed sauce pan on medium-high heat. Salt and pepper the meat cubes and, using a little olive oil, brown the meat in small batches, removing it to a bowl as each batch is browned. Add a small amount more oil and cook the carrots, onions, garlic, celery, and mushrooms until they are soft, have a sweet aroma, and have just started to color. Add the herbs and spices and cook a minuet longer.

Pour in the red wine and the beef stock and return the meat to the pot, along with any juices that have accumulated in the bowl. Stir in the tomato pureé and the cream. Season lightly. Bring the sauce to a simmer and reduce to low heat.

Cook, partially covered, stirring frequently, for 2-3 hours (longer if needed), until the meat is soft and begins to fall apart. Using the back of a wooden spoon press the chunks of meat against the side of the pot until they are all shredded. The sauce should be thick and rich. Adjust seasoning and serve with shaved (not powdered for the love of god) parmesan.

Tomato Pureé

You can go about this in one of several ways. 1. Buy a jar of tomato pureé, often called passata. Just make sure that the ingredients are “tomato and salt” or you're buying sauce, not pureé. 2. Get a large can of peeled tomatoes and blend them. 3. Core, blanch, and peel about 10 large tomatoes and then blend them. Any of these work just fine.