The Cardinale’s Ragoût
I remember the specifics of how this conversation came about. I had watched a movie that featured a hearty pot of bolognese and suddenly had the urge to remake it the next day. Except, with the heat of the summer and the boredom of my self-indulging routine, I wanted this dish to be complex.
During work, I asked Ellie whether her Chef boyfriend would send me his bolognese recipe. Within 24 hours, I received his call. As I scribbled all the ingredients behind an old receipt, a few things glistened: soy sauce, fish oil and no trace of carrots?
Ragù alla bolognese originated in the late 18th century in a small town called Imola, a Papal state that underwent political, architectural, and cultural change. The French revolutionary forces held their provisional government in 1797, with some resistance from Cardinal-Bishop Barnabé Chiaramonti. Albeit tense with the French invaders, it resulted in heavy culinary influences, including Alberto Alvisi’s invention of the ragù, derived from the affluent French cuisine. Originally, it was served not with pasta or sauce but with a Bono di Carne before the industrial revolution advanced the accessibility of pasta ((Oakeley 2019).
Two things felt clear to me. The current ‘traditional’ ragù recipe is nowhere close to how Alvisi envisioned. And, maybe that was specifically the point. So here begins my blog post, one that challenges the boundaries of strict recipes that adhere to ‘tradition’. I’m debunking the myth of ‘authenticity’ as recipes are constantly evolving with technology, politics and taste. As I made his bolognese recipe, it was clear that this was magnificent. It was deeply rich with so much intentionality required in the three-hour simmering time.
Citations:
Oakeley, L 2019, The tangled history of spaghetti bolognese, The Economist.
Ben’s Bolognese