pete_c
Guru
Italian mayor is sick of people trying to order spaghetti bolognese in his city
News dot com dot au
March 7, 2019
It was once voted Australia’s most popular dish but to Italians, spaghetti bolognese is an abomination.
It is a meal known and loved by people around the world. But if you’re looking to order it in Virginio Merola’s town, you’ll be out of luck.
We often like to think we’re already well-acquainted with Italian culture when we visit Italy, but as the locals often like to remind us, we’re not.
One of those points of contention is with Australia’s favourite “Italian” midweek dinner, spaghetti bolognese.
Order a plate of spag bol in Italy and what you’re likely to get is an eye-roll from the waiter.
And nowhere more so than in the historic northern city of Bologna, where the mayor is on a furious crusade to stop people thinking that’s where spaghetti bolognese came from — because they’re completely wrong.
“Spaghetti bolognese doesn’t actually exist, yet it’s famous the world over,” Bologna mayor Virginio Merola told Italian radio broadcaster RAI.
“What we’d prefer the world to know is that Bologna invented tagliatelle, tortellini and lasagne.”
The authentic Italian dish that most closely resembles spag bol is tagliatelle al ragù — flat ribbons of handmade egg pasta served in a very, very slow-cooked sauce of beef, vegetables, tomatoes and wine.
Tagliatelle al ragù comes from the Emilia-Romagna region, of which Bologna is the capital.
But spaghetti does not.
Mr Merola is now trying to expose the “fake news” of the abominable spaghetti bolognese through a social media campaign.
News dot com dot au
March 7, 2019
It was once voted Australia’s most popular dish but to Italians, spaghetti bolognese is an abomination.
It is a meal known and loved by people around the world. But if you’re looking to order it in Virginio Merola’s town, you’ll be out of luck.
We often like to think we’re already well-acquainted with Italian culture when we visit Italy, but as the locals often like to remind us, we’re not.
One of those points of contention is with Australia’s favourite “Italian” midweek dinner, spaghetti bolognese.
Order a plate of spag bol in Italy and what you’re likely to get is an eye-roll from the waiter.
And nowhere more so than in the historic northern city of Bologna, where the mayor is on a furious crusade to stop people thinking that’s where spaghetti bolognese came from — because they’re completely wrong.
“Spaghetti bolognese doesn’t actually exist, yet it’s famous the world over,” Bologna mayor Virginio Merola told Italian radio broadcaster RAI.
“What we’d prefer the world to know is that Bologna invented tagliatelle, tortellini and lasagne.”
The authentic Italian dish that most closely resembles spag bol is tagliatelle al ragù — flat ribbons of handmade egg pasta served in a very, very slow-cooked sauce of beef, vegetables, tomatoes and wine.
Tagliatelle al ragù comes from the Emilia-Romagna region, of which Bologna is the capital.
But spaghetti does not.
Mr Merola is now trying to expose the “fake news” of the abominable spaghetti bolognese through a social media campaign.
