Slow food: Ragù Bolognese

Ragù Bolognese (Photo by Cynthia Nelson)

20140607cynthia nelsonHi Everyone, There is something sensual about slow-cooked food that you don’t get from some dishes that take far less time to cook. It is the type of food that engages you with deep layers of flavour and appealing textures. When you sit down to eat, it’s like a ritual. You’re not just eating, you are involved – the way you break the bread and press it into the rich velvety sauce of Pepperpot; how carefully you unwrap a Conkie or Pastelle and gaze upon it before you take that first bite, or how about that first sip of ice-cold mauby that has been ripening for a couple of days, with you faithfully brewing it daily. After your first sip, you hold out the glass staring into its depths as if willing it to reveal secrets to its maturity. Ragù Bolognese is a slow-cooked pasta meat sauce; it takes anywhere from 3 to 4 hours of cooking for the flavours to meld and develop, creating a rich, thick, creamy-like consistency. It invites you to slowly twirl your fork and chew even slower to savour all the nuances of its flavour profile.

Ragù Bolognese is a thick, hearty, meaty pasta sauce of Italian origins in the city of Bologna. The long simmering makes the sauce very rich and savoury, and like many dishes, the combination of ingredients varies from one region to the other. However, the common