‘Spag bol’ garnished with grated Parmesan and chopped parsley

Once the mainstay of the typical English 60s bachelor party, spaghetti bolognese can still be found on the menu at almost every Italian restaurant in the country.

But now a leading Italian chef says we have been ruining ‘spag bol’ by putting herbs in it. Oh, the shame. And recently chefs have been discussing what sort of pasta is best with ragù, and seem to be leaning away from round spaghetti to flat types of pasta like tagliatelle, to which the sauce sticks better.

The popular Italian gastronome Antonio Carluccio, revealed that when he first came to England in 1975, he was shocked by what was served in so-called Italian restaurants. “There was spaghetti bolognese, which does not exist in Italy. There, it is tagliatelle bolognese … without any herbs whatsoever. When you think of Italian food, you start to put in oregano, basil, parsley, garlic, which is not at all right.”

Fetuccini bolognese at ASK Italian, Lewes, East Sussex

Travelling in England with family, I looked for one of his Carluccio’s Caffè outlets to see if his version added up to all the acclaim. There was none to be found, although apparently there are more than 80 locations across the country, so I had to settle for the rival ASK Italian. ASK either stands for ‘Authentic Sicilian Kitchen’ or Adam and Samuel Kaye, the founding brothers’ initials, or both, depending on whom you ask. They have 120 locations, and like Carluccio, have been taken over for millions by off-shore investors’ groups. Italian food continues to be a mainstay of Brit cuisine.

On a wet and cold night after a lengthy and celebratory family tea, some of us need comfort food, so we wander over to the local ASK Italian. I spot fetuccine bolognese at once, with the additional useful note that half-portions are available with a side salad for £1.50 less than the listed price. The menu says: “Our hearty beef and pork ragù sauce is served with flat ribbon fettuccine, the way they eat it in Rome. If you prefer, you can choose spaghetti.” I suppose the latter option is for those die-hard Brits who refuse to change, but clearly the flat pasta works better.

Back in the ancient 60s, when I lived the bachelor life in London, cooking up a huge pot of ‘spag bol’ for friends was the best and easiest way to get carbohydrates into them to absorb the huge quantities of rough red ‘plonk’ we were accustomed to downing.

This became one of my first mass catering efforts and eventually the original recipe made its way into my 70s cookbook, How to Eat Well and Stay Single. Fixed in my ways, I’m sure I would have insisted that bolognese went with spaghetti and alfredo went with fettuccine, and never the twain should meet. For those who get confused by the different flat pastas, lasagne is the widest in a sheet, with pappardelle next, then fettuccine, and finally tagliatelle.

Even in those days the debate was stirring, and in 1982 the Bologna Chamber of Commerce asked the Italian Academy of Cooking to come up with an official Bolognese recipe. The simple sauce they wrote into law consisted only of beef, pancetta, onions, carrots, celery, tomato paste, white wine and milk.

Bolognese sauce is a ragù and should have a mirepoix as a base. Ragù is derived from the French ragoût, with very similar ingredients. A mirepoix in French cuisine is chopped vegetables, usually a mixture of onions, carrots, and celery. The traditional ratio is two parts onions, one part carrots, and one part celery. It is named after Charles-Pierre-Gaston François de Lévis, duc de Lévis-Mirepoix (1699–1757), the nob employer of the cook credited with creating it.

The Italian version of mirepoix is called soffritto, which means ‘underfried’ and describes a preparation of lightly browned chopped vegetables, not a dish by itself. Hence, soffritto is a simple combination of finely chopped onion, carrot and celery, slowly and gently cooked in a little butter or extra virgin olive oil until softened, when all the brilliant flavours are released.

Here’s my original recipe, and you can of course choose the pasta you like best, as I no longer insist on spaghetti! Cooking it up for this article, I taste the sauce after it has sat cooling overnight. Delicious!

Wine: I claim I can’t make a good sauce unless I have a glass of wine of wine beside me (I wrote in my 1974 book). Anyway, it’s a good story and I usually tip some of it into the sauce just for the heck of it. To drink with the meal you can’t go wrong with a rich red Italian wine, either a Valpolicella or the slightly sharper Chianti.

Here’s another version, with just a hint of tomato and no herbs or garlic, according to Carluccio, a more authentic taste.

Spaghetti bolognese – my original recipe from How to Eat Well and Stay Single

NOTE: The plates are antique Spode Blue Italian, which seemed an appropriate platform on which to serve this quintessentially Italian dish. 

NEWS UPDATE: My fully illustrated e-book, Market to Table: The Cookbook started as a project for novice cooks, but after I was picked to host a cooking show featuring food bought at farmers’ markets, developed into a more complete collection of the recipes from the series, including some from guest chefs on the show, as well as those from my well-read foodie blog. It is easy to read, divided into chapters that cover the main mealtimes of the day, and into recipes that are concise and guaranteed to work. Most recipes are accompanied by an entertaining story. Brilliant young Chef Dan Frenette, who now hosts the TV series, has written the Foreword and contributes to the book.

How about a copy as a gift idea for yourself, friends, family or anyone who loves to cook, now available on Lulu.com, i-Tunes and Amazon.