bolognese

Bolognese means 'of Bologna,' from the Latin Bononia, the Roman name for the Etruscan settlement in the Po Valley. The sauce known outside Italy as 'bolognese' refers to ragù alla bolognese, a slow-cooked meat sauce that Bologna's chamber of commerce officially registered in 1982. The registered recipe calls for beef, pancetta, onion, carrot, celery, tomato paste, white wine, milk, and broth. It is served on tagliatelle, never spaghetti.

The ragù tradition in Bologna dates to at least the 18th century. Alberto Alvisi, personal cook to the Cardinal of Imola, recorded a meat sauce recipe in 1786 that bears clear resemblance to modern ragù. The sauce was always meant for fresh egg pasta—tagliatelle or lasagne—not dried pasta like spaghetti. The flat, porous surface of tagliatelle absorbs the sauce. Spaghetti lets it slide off.

The international version—spaghetti bolognese—emerged in the mid-20th century, likely through British and American interpretations of Italian cooking. In Australia, it became 'spag bol,' a weeknight dinner staple. In Britain, it became the nation's most popular pasta dish. In Japan, it morphed into Napolitan spaghetti, which despite the name has nothing to do with Naples either.

Bologna has spent decades trying to correct the world. In 2019, the city's mayor, Virginio Merola, tweeted a photo of a restaurant menu offering 'spaghetti bolognese' with the caption: 'Does not exist.' He was technically correct. But the world does not care. Spaghetti bolognese exists in every country except the one it is named after.