Comments on: Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce

By: jean

jean — Sun, 11 Dec 2005 19:54:06 +0000

Gonzo, one of my goals in the last couple of years has been to find the perfect bolognese recipe. Like you, I have been disappointed many times by the countless versions that are out there–even in Europe. On a ski trip to Europe two years ago, though, I came across some of the best spaghetti bolognese and I had to eat it everyday. My husband and friends still talk about it.

At any rate, I’ve come close to the authentic bolognese sauce a couple of times. I’d try more frequently but my husband and I are practically vegetarians most days of the week. But, the common element that most good bolognese sauces have is the inclusion of the following: chopped onions, celery, and carrots, milk, and porcini mushrooms. Instead of wine, I’ve found that adding light chicken stock along with the dried mushroom water makes for a really good rich, not-to-tomatoey sauce. Essentially, I’ve combined different recipe ideas to create my own.

By the way, I grew up eating my mom’s filipino spaghetti, and I still love it! Yes, I’m a bolognese snob, but my mom’s was not the overly sweet concoction that most filipinos pass off as spaghetti sauce. In fact, I was in the Philippines for the first time in 23 years this past October and spaghetti was served at a catered event and I couldn’t even touch it. It looked that bad!!!

Hope this helps!

By: rampau

rampau — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 05:21:47 +0000

Pinoy spaghetti is definitely unique and I’m not going to apologize for actually eating and liking the Makati Supermart version. I remember my Lolo commenting after their trip to Italy that the spaghetti there had nothing in it! Must be like mm’s version above. Ha ha ha What I cant abide are the spaghettis from the fastfood places. Yuck! Adding onions to spaghetti cuts the sourness of the tomatoes. It can actually make the sauce sweet. I’m a Flip and I dont like sour spaghetti sauce. I dont add sugar but I definitely add onions.

By: Marketman

Marketman — Mon, 28 Nov 2005 21:41:31 +0000

Mariless, try Galileo Enoteca and Santis Delicatessen. The former has cheeses and cold cuts and pasta. The latter some meats and other stuff though either are not as complete as you might expect. There are several markets you can go to. Just browse through the archives of this site and you will get a better picture of what is available.

By: Mariless Villamar

Mariless Villamar — Mon, 28 Nov 2005 15:09:48 +0000

I am currently in Florence, Italy doing my masters and I will be going home for the Holiday break. My family expects me to cook italian dishes when I get home, and I have of course, picked up a few things during my stay here but it’s very important that I get the right ingredients when I get home. Can anyone recommend a really good Italian deli where I can also get steaks and a market where I can get fresh produce.

Grazie Mille,

Mariless

By: Marketman

Marketman — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 13:24:56 +0000

edee, the tomatoes must be wickedly good, the mozzarella soft buffalo type and the basil plentiful. The hot pasta (penne or similar) basically melts the cheese. Good luck.

By: edee

edee — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 11:47:24 +0000

mmmm….we usually have the tomatoes, buffalo mozarella and basil as salad, haven’t tried it with pasta….great idea!….might try that this winter to have a touch of summer :) …..

By: Marketman

Marketman — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 10:29:20 +0000

Edee, I make large batches and freeze portions as well. Stefoodie, I understand the need for that annual taste childhood birthday party spaghetti, but not as a matter of course! The red wine I like in longer stewing ragus or sauces… yum! Gonzo, your suggestions sound superb. For all, if you have superb tomatoes that are perfectly ripe. Try a dish that is hot pasta, chopped fresh deseeded tomatoes, chunks of fresh buffalo mozzarella and shredded basil. Salt and pepper. A touch of extra virgin olive oil if desired. Toss and eat immediately as the cheese melts slightly. Superb!

By: gonzo

gonzo — Tue, 15 Nov 2005 05:37:06 +0000

And another thing, more on topic, the simple tomato sauce recipe given by mm above is good precisely because of it’s simplicity. What i do occasionally is add fresh tomatoes to the more traditional canned italian plum tomatoes to give the dish a fresher taste. It’s especially good this way in the heat of summer. indeed, when the weather is hot sometimes italians don’t even bother to cook the sauce and just put the chopped fresh tomato mixture straight onto the pasta. which brings me to one of my gastronomic pet peeves in this country–can anyone pls explain why the fresh tomatoes grown here are so pitiful and sad looking? They’re not even red most of the time. Needless to say they are flavorless. terrible. Whoever figures out how to grow proper tomatoes locally will make a fortune.

By: gonzo

gonzo — Tue, 15 Nov 2005 05:09:00 +0000

Hi MM, i’m new to your blog, which is strange because as a hopelessly fanatical foodie with a vast mental ‘library’ of global food trivia and quite a bit of knowledge of even obscure ethnic cuisines (Balkan cevapcici recipe, anyone? :-)), how i could not have come across this blog sooner is a mystery.

Anyway, here’s my take on spaghetti with meat sauce (aka spag bol), which is not really on topic but…:

Everyone cooks spaghetti bolognese round the world but there is this distinct, wonderful, homey, meaty, not too tomatoey flavor and soft texture to the sauce (ragu) in Italy (esp in the Emilia-Romagna region) that other versions of it outside of italy lack. So, often, I find myself ordering spag bol (or tagliatalle) in Italian restaurants everywhere as a sort of test of authenticity. Most of the time I’m disappointed.

What is that elusive flavor? Is it nutmeg? cloves or cinnamon? Is it from a wine reduction? Is it from the addition of milk early on in the cooking process? Is it the way they double grind the mince? Or is it the meat itself? I can’t figure it out. It’s been bugging me for years, frankly.

Once, one version came close and that was a few years ago in Carpaccio restaurant along Yakal st, by Santi’s… If anyone has any ideas on this i’d be glad to hear them. Thanks.

By: Mila

Mila — Tue, 15 Nov 2005 03:36:02 +0000

My mom used to cook big batches of spaghetti sauce with ground beef, chorizo and lots of garlic. When I lived away from them, I learned how to cook my own, no meat version. The fast food versions all seem like banana ketchup on noodles with a very red hotdog plonked down the middle.

I add red wine when I have leftover dregs, and don’t add any more salt to the sauce. Sometimes I use fresh tomatoes, skin and deseed them to make a really homemade sauce. What I’d like to try is a sauce I saw on one of Mario Batali’s shows, where he made the sauce with the drippings from sausages, ground meat, chicken, browned them all, and then added all the vegetables to stew slowly for a few hours. Looked wonderful.