The Myth That Is Bolognese Sauce

14 Jun The Myth That Is Bolognese Sauce

As promised we have investigated (thoroughly) the makings of a proper Bolognese sauce and we can now tell you definitively that there is no such thing as “Bolognese” sauce, kind of.  In fact what is known in the rest of the world as Bolognese sauce or spaghetti Bolognese (spag bol for you Brits) is not served in Bologna or anywhere else in Italy.  In Bologna and the surrounding Emilia-Romagna area, it is simply known as ragù and it is never served with spaghetti but with (egg) tagliatelle.
Living like locals, we visited Trattoria Renzi in Santarcangelo di Romagna.  It is a very non-descript country restaurant frequented almost exclusively by locals and where they serve, what our guide Nicholas referred to as, the best ragù in all of Emilia-Romagna.  In fact the ragù is so good that they do not even bother giving you a menu because all anybody orders is the tagliatelle al ragù.