SPAGHETTI BOLOGNESE … A CHI???

LITTLEITALY

As Italians wedding planner, we are usually asked to organize wedding dinners. Our clients come from all over the world…different cultures, different religions, different nationalities and different tastes. But the thing they all agree on is the Italian menu. Couples usually ask for great traditional local dishes such as Caprese, Mozzarella, Papa al Pomodoro and so the like… However, the most requested dish is SPAGHETTI BOLOGNESE. Well, let me try to tell you how much this request leaves us perplexed.

Leaving aside the fact that the Italian cooking tradition is extremely vast, containing millions of ingredients, combinations and variations… Spaghetti Bolognese is not an Italian dish! If you walk through Bologna’s street and as Micheal Portillo did in its documentary Great Documentary Railway Journeys, you ask people where to eat the best Spaghetti Bolognese you will probably be surprised by the answers. “Spaghetti Bolognese? NON ESISTONO!” – “Spaghetti Bolognese, doesn’t exist!” or even “Mi rifiuto!” “I deny it!”

Ragù, the real name of Bolognese sauce, is a thick sauce, mainly made of several kinds of meat and tomato, typical of Bologna. Italians have tried for years to explain that not every kind of pasta can be suitable for a specific sauce. Any “sugo” has its proper pasta shape to be associate with. Speaking of Ragù, the perfect shape is Tagliatelle or Lasagna.

This was just to say… do not stuck in the Italian Stereotype of Pizza and Mandolino-Spaghetti Bolognese! Italy boasts one of the greatest variety of recipes and dishes, let your Italian wedding planner advice you and guide you through the labyrinth of the Italian cuisine… we won’t let you down!!

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Contributor Claudia Falchi claudia@theknotinitaly.it