Ragù
Hi all,
I have been gaslit. Italians love to make you think you have no idea what you’re talking about. Like when they say focaccia isn’t a bread. It clearly is a bread. Just like ragù is the same bloody thing as ragout.
I mean it was completely delicious, but it was in no way different to ragout, just because this version has slightly less ingredients or slightly more snobbery. This is an attack on the collective Italian not on Tucci, who actually dedicated a couple paragraphs to explaining the French origin of the (pretty simple) dish.
The thing with Ragù is you have to be patient. Low and slow, my two nemeses. And you have to prepare, another enemy of mine. Because you have to be at home all day – unless you like an unattended stove (and since Ambre set fire to her house God knows how) I’m not in the mood for danger. So ok, I need to be home all day, but it won’t be ready for lunch, I need to start making it before lunch but also have enough room on the hob to make lunch, or maybe I’ll just order in? And then I have to pick my timings because if I make it too early then it’ll be ready too soon, – let’s say 5pm – and then I’ll have eaten it all before dinner time. And if I make it too late then I won’t wait the full 3 hours because who’s patient when they’re hungry and it’ll be yum but not absolutely scrumptious.
I’ve made the recipe thrice now, some indication of its deliciousness. Twice with meat, once without – after lovely instruction from a kosher Italian chef who has to switch up her recipes frequently to deal with the numerous milk meat combinations she encounters in Italian cuisine. I met her at a Roman cooking class gifted to me by my angelic coursemates in Milan. I learnt to make supplí (a deep fried rice ball stuffed with mozarella), caccio e peppe (a peppery cheesy pasta) and baccalà (a deep fried battered salty fish).
Anyways the original was gorgeous. Kind of earthy? And just a little smoky. The texture was probably the easiest to replicate outright in the vegan version. I used a meat substitute – not sure which – but honestly I don’t think it’s even necessary. The flavours come about if you use enough cloves, mushrooms, leek, and really cook the tomato sauce through for many hours. It’s different, a little woodier, and the sweetness of the tomatoes is more fresh and sharp than kind of at the back? I’m not sure if that makes sense but, I think for a winter sauce that you can add to pasta or bread or potatoes – it’s warm and filling and buttery without using butter.
Now I have to get cooking, as I’ve fallen very slightly behind my schedule, from 4 recipes ahead to … zero. But Ambre is coming next week and heaven knows she’ll be clamouring for some hot lunches, which I will whip up, no complaints.
I won’t include a recipe because honestly there are thousands – depends how you like your veg.