I’m sure I spelled that wrong,however,the answer is half a glass of a good Shiraz in the sauce but you’ve got to leave it a good 24 hours before gently re-warming. Delicious.
The secret to a great spaghetti bolognese
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chicken stock or beef
your view on mushies
Does it have to be Shiraz? Have you experimented with other wines?
My neighbour buys me a bottle of port every Christmas. I haven’t had the heart to tell her I don’t drink port. But it has done wonders for my cooking. The humble liver and onions will never be the same again.
If in doubt, add more port.
Lea & Perrins Sauce. A teaspoon of marmalade. Now you know.
It’s bolloques about using good wine for cooking. Good wine is for drinking. If it’s a bit off, use it for cooking. Those lingering topnotes of licorice and wax paper on a dewy morn are going to be swallowed by animal fat, not you.
That’s sound advice, Mr Saucecraft. Afterworders – never chuck a bottle of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti in your spag bol!
You and your bloody Lea and Perrins!
– Not a thing I’d ever thought I’d have to say in anger.
Oh I say.
Nah, not Worcestershire sauce it’s got to be Relish
http://hendersonsrelish.com/
Made in Sheffield since 1885.
Forget the spaghetti, by far the best way to eat the sauce is on toast after it has stood overnight.
Chicken liver.
Ok what would the effect be, apart from appalling the family if I told them.
Chicken livers are quite mild, and if cooked slowly for a long time, they break down and thicken the sauce. You can always fish them out, and push them through a sieve.
My partner doesn’t like offal, but will happily eat faggots and liver pate, knowing what they are.
definitely a few bits of chicken liver needed for a great spag bol.
Milk – if you’re making an authentic* one.
* lights blue touchpaper, and retires.
This is true. Because Marcella Hazan says so.
There’s a very good recent recipe by Rachel Roddy in thegrauniad
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/feb/02/ragu-alla-bolognese-recipe-rachel-roddy-kitchen-sink-tales
‘English’ spag bol isn’t authentic, and I don’t care. Ditto chili, which is spag bol with kidney beans and added heat.
Interesting, never heard about the milk before. Good to see the humble bay leaf included.
Coconut milk. I’m not kidding. Also great in curries.
I do a coconut-milk curry with a whole chicken breast, marinaded in advance in garlic and ginger goo. Serve with lime slices and a sprinkling of chopped spring onion. Even my kids eat it.
And make it full fat, cook for a couple of hours
Antonio Carluccio, who knows a bit about Italian cooking, says half minced beef and half minced pork and white not red wine and under no circumstances must you use spaghetti. Ask for that in Bologna and you’ll be chased out of town. Tagliatelle should be served so the sauce coats all the pasta.
Spag bol without the spag is like G&T without the G. What nonsense. You’d think someone called Antonio Carluccio would know better.
A quote from the history of spaghetti; Unlike in Italy, abroad spaghetti is often served with Bolognese sauce.
spag is from Sicily and should be served with more solid meat such as meatballs or with a cheese sauce.
Let me quote from Carluccio’s recipe book for bolognese sauce.
“One of the best known Italian recipes, Spaghetti bolognese, does not exist in Italy. It is something you will find in a restaurant run by non-Italians or by Italians not in touch with genuine Italian food. The real thing is called Tagliatelle al Ragu and comes from Bologna in Emilia Romagna”
Since when did we give a shit about how the Italians prepare a British recipe?
“spag is from Sicily and should be served with more solid meat such as meatballs or with a cheese sauce.”
Spag with meatballs is even more un-Italian than spag with “Bolognese” sauce! (It’s an American dish, I believe).
Soya mince, Seeds Of Change organic tomato and herb pasta sauce, extra squeeze of puree, generous splash of Lee & Perrins, a few drops of Tabasco extra hot Habanero sauce.
Job done.
LEA & PERRINS! YOU’RE MY CAUCASIAN!
No. This is different. (Old Crone Mother) Lee and (Crazy Meg) Perrins Mandrake Condiment. I buy it from the Thin Place deli.
Authenticity is overrated. The worst paellas and gazpachos I’ve had in my life have been in Valencia and Andalusia, respectively.
A good example is Martin Scorsese’s allegedly canonical “red sauce” (aka “gravy”; aka “ragu”) recipe, as featured in Goodfellas. It’s wrong. All that palaver of shaving the garlic waffair-thin achieves nothing at all except to increase the chances of the garlic slivers burning to inedible bitter nail clippings in the hot oil. Wipe out the pan and start again, Marty.
Indeed. I had a bit of a to do in a Bella Italia during my carniverous years. The mince was sparse and grey, the sauce was thin, and this lanky fucker threatened me with his three foot long pepper dispenser when things got a tad out of hand my end.
The pepper mill is the best yardstick for judging the quality of a trattoria. Its length is in inverse proportion to the amount of time you’ll want to spend in the place.
Very good point. The dispenser came apart during our frenzied wresting and there was black pepper corns all over the place as a result. I pocketed quite a few before checking to see if he was still breathing as I left. Good quality pepper, though, I’m glad to say.
Ha, very true and I thought it was just me. I expect nothing good from such places.
As to the authenticity matter, the worst pizza I ever had was in Naples, shameful.
The worst pizza I ever had was in Sherborne, 2001. It was in a hotel bistro stuck in a 70s timewarp of cuisine chique. The waitress fancied me and kept bringing me extra bowls of olives that acted as dental padding against the concrete crust, bless her.
Spoonful of Nescafe granules. Seriously.
We add vegemite (a teaspoon). Acts like stock I suppose. If doing a posh version I roughly follow Delia’s Ragu recipe. Chicken livers, bit of red wine. We also use blandfärs. It’s mixed beef and pork mince. Common here and I find it helps the meat retain a little moisture. Important to cook the bol for a decent time too. An hour or so. And I use tomato puree. Much maligned by proper chefs but without it something is lacking. Oh, and a little sugar to offset the acidity of the tomatoes (tinned).
Not maligned round these parts. “Cook out”, as the chefs say, a good dollop of tomato puree in a hole made in the meat and veg, mix well and then get your wine in. Reduce to a syrup. Then in with the tinned tomatoes and carry on. Ooh yeah.
I’m only going to say this twice: A TEASPOON OF MARMALADE.
Actually, a teaspoon won’t make any difference to anything. Stir in half a jar and now you’re talking.
Don’t use tinned tomatoes you fools.
You want Passata.
Well, if you can find fresh tomatoes that taste of the sun and not of the lab, that would be best.
A teaspoon of dried oregano, one of thyme and one of rosemary plus a Knorr Beef stockpot. Perfect…..
What is all this nonsense? Have none of you people heard of egg and chips?
Those poor blokes who fought at Monte Cassino needn’t have bothered. The sooner we get out of the European so-called Union the better!
At last, the voice of reason.
I fought two world wars for the right to bastardise foreign cuisine.
The true secret to a thoroughly enjoyable Spag Bol is get someone else to make it whilst one relaxes with a bottle or two of red.
What fresh hell is this by gum! Bloody site has taken to repeating on me without a by your leave in an ad hoc stylee.
Yes but Spag Bol is English, just like curry.
You and your bloody egg and chips!
– Not a thing I’d ever thought I’d have to say in anger.
Someone above has it right. Make a (technical term) “Shitload” of bol sauce, and reserve half as the base for tomorrow’s chili. For me, neither can be (another technical term) tomatoey enough. I use tinned chopped toms, puree, sun dried and fresh (if I can find good ones). Best tomato sauce is made by putting fresh ripe toms in a sealed glass jar with some basil and oregano, and leaving it out in the Mediterranean sun all day. Food made with love and cooked by the sun.
The true secret to a thoroughly enjoyable Spag Bol is get someone else to make it whilst one relaxes with a bottle or two of red.
Having just consulted the glw, whose spag boll is simply divine, I’m assured that sherry, a can of Heinz oxtail soup and some celery are the key ingredients.