Celebrating the diversity of cuisines in Britain

An Homage to Spag Bol (Spaghetti Bolognese)

In conjunction with  National Eating In/Out Month Recommended Restaurants Restaurant Capital of Britain Cuisines of London Restaurant Groups in UK Recipes Eating Out Statistics in UK Link to : National Curry Week The Curry Tree Charitable Fund The Federation of Specialist Restaurants Curry Capital of Britain Media Partner DONATIONS THAT COST YOU NOTHING Choose from over 2000 of the UK's best-known retailers including many popular names such as Amazon, M&S, Argos, John Lewis and HMV, and when you shop using the links on our site up to 15% from every purchase you make is donated to The Curry Tree. It doesn't cost a penny extra to shop and raise funds for your cause using the Easyfundraising site, and as many retailers now give extra discounts when you buy online, you can even save money! There Are even monthly competitions so you could be a winner. Go to www.easyfundraising.org.uk /causes/currytree now and sign up completely free.

Sponsored by : (Click here to read the Spaghetti House story) 20th November 2012 was the first Homage Day in praise of Spag Bol, a truly British institution and one of the most popular dishes in the country. Although spaghetti alla bolognese is very popular outside of Italy, it never existed in Bologna. It is very popular in Australia, Germany, Hungary, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway. In the United States, the term 'bolognese' is sometimes applied to a tomato-and-ground-beef sauce that bears little resemblance to the ragù served in Bologna. In the UK we have our good old Spag Bol and owes very little to what many think of as its Italian origins. In British households, spaghetti bolognese has been a regular feature of mealtimes since the 1960s. According to the statistics, we eat up to670 million portions a year The Facts Spaghetti is from Napoli. The word pasta was not really used before the war as they used noodles macaroni or the Italian pasta alimentary. The word spaghetti was introduced to Britain by Eliza Acton in 1849 Modern Cookery for Private Families and means thin cords. Word is from Piacenza in Italy around 1836. The first known record of a recipe that combines tomatoes and pasta was written in 1839 by the Duke of Buonvicino. Bolognese Bolognese sauce is an Italian meat-based sauce for pasta which originates in Bologna, a city in Northern Italy and dates back at least to the 5th century. . A thick, full-bodied meat sauce that's a staple of northern Italy's Bologna. A true Bolognese sauce includes a small amount of tomatoes or tomato paste in a rich sauce with meat and other ingredients. It tends to be served on thick pasta, as larger pasta shapes hold meat much better than finer pastas such as capellini. The traditional recipe, registered in 1982 by the Bolognese delegation of Accademia Italiana della Cucina, confines the ingredients to beef (skirt steak), pancetta, onions, carrot, celery (stalk), tomato paste, meat broth, red dry wine, milk, salt and pepper to taste. Some make use of chopped pork or pork sausage; chicken liver may be added along with the beef orveal for special occasions, and today many use both butter and olive oil for cooking the soffritto. Prosciutto, mortadella, or porcini mushrooms may be added to the ragù to further enrich the sauce. History of Spag Bol It wasn't until the BBC Spaghetti Tree hoax in1957 that spaghetti pasta was brought to nation's attention followed by further exposure in the wonderful cookbooks of Elizabeth David from 1963. Spag Bol is a typical British dish. Purists in Italy would never use spaghetti to accompany Bolognese which is a ragu, more dense meat stew. It uses coarsely minced beef, veal and pork cooked with stock and red wine but rarely tomatoes. Tomatoes and herbs were added for British taste and as spaghetti was more available in Britain than the tradiotional tagliatelle, it became a Britalian dish. Now it is re exported to many Italian tourist towns. Spaghetti House, (www.spaghettihouse.co.uk) now a very successful group, opened in Goodge Street, London on 6 September 1955. Spaghetti House did not toss pasta with the sauce as it would slide to the bottom but instead piled it in the middle. Simone Lavarini, founder says Spaghetti Bolognese was on the menu from day one in 1955 as well as Spaghetti Napoli, Spaghetti Aglio e Olio, Tagliatelle Alfredo. Stefana, daughter of founder says the recipe has changed little, using a mixture of beef and pork originally. Some time ago, Stefano Bonilli, a renowned Italian gastronomer, who was born in Bologna, wrote: "Spaghetti alla bolognese never existed. Spaghetti is dry pasta from Southern Italy, in Bologna, we have tagliatelle, freshly homemade, al ragù bolognese". A proper ragu sauce is meat, onions, wine, a little tomato paste and vegetables - no garlic whatsoever, nor a single herb. Why Spag Bol is British? "Along with lasagne, spaghetti bolognese is the most abused Italian dish. There are some crazy versions out there," says Massimo Bottura, a bolognese "virtuoso" who runs a restaurant in Modena. The worst he had ever eaten was in Bangkok. "It was terrible," he told the Corriere della Sera newspaper. Abominations such as turkey mince, American meatballs, butter and cream have no part in a true spaghetti bolognese and need to be stamped out, say the guardians of Italy's culinary heritage. "Abroad, when they offer spaghetti bolognese, it's often something that has nothing at all to do with the original," said Alfredo Tomaselli, the owner of Dal Bolognese, in Rome's Piazza del Popolo, who counts among his past customers George Clooney. Some say that all happened during War World II, when American (and British) soldiers passing through Emilia, ate tagliatelle al ragù and liked them. Back home, they asked for the dish and Italian restaurateurs created the dish we know today, with spaghetti. There is no evidence but the story could well be true. When American and British came back to Italy as tourists they asked for their beloved Spaghetti Bolognese and 'unscrupulous' Italian restaurateurs gave it to them. The bolognese served across the UK today is a purely British invention, cultivated by Italian chefs over here in the Sixties. It panders to what the Italians believe British people expect from Mediterranean food - plenty of garlic and loads of herbs, and served with spaghetti. RECIPE: The perfect authentic bolognese (Serves four people) Ingredients: 500g (1lb) fresh tagliatelle or 400g dried egg tagliatelle 60g (2oz) parmesan cheese, grated FOR THE RAGU 55g (1.9oz) butter 55g (1.9oz) minced prosciutto fat or pancetta 1 large carrot, finely chopped 1 celery stalk, finely chopped 1 onion, finely chopped 100g (3.5oz) minced lean veal or beef 100g (3.5oz) minced lean pork 1 glass of dry white wine A little beef or chicken stock 3 tbsp tomato paste salt and pepper On Sunday, 17 January 2010, 450 chefs in Italian restaurants in 50 countries cooked bolognese to an authentic recipe in order to promote Tagliatelle al ragù alla bolognese. International newspapers unfortunately did not always reference the Accademia Italiana della Cucina recipe and many published stock photographs of Spaghetti alla Bolognese instead rather defeating the objectives of the exercise. Spag Bol (one of many British versions some of which add mushrooms, Tabasco, chlli, Worcestershire Sauce and more) 1 large onion, diced 100 g pancetta, cut into 3cm strips or rindless streaky bacon 2 cloves garlic 1 tsp oregano, chopped 450 g minced beef 1 x 400 g canned chopped tomatoes 250 ml beef stock 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar 175 ml red wine 3 tbsp basil 4 tbsp parmesan shavings coarsely ground black pepper 450 g dried spaghetti 4 tbsp olive oil drizzle of olive oil Spag Bol, Spaghetti alla bolognese, spaghetti bolognese, in a form popular in Britain consists of a meat sauce served on a bed of spaghetti, often with a good sprinkling of grated Parmigiano cheese. It consists of ground beef, tomato, onion, herbs, spices, sometimes cream and additional vegetables such as carrots, celery, or even parsnip. Organiser : Peter Grove (in conjunction with The Federation of Specialist Restaurants) P.O. Box 416 Surbiton Surrey KT1 9BJ Tel : 020 8399 4831 email : groveint@aol.com