“Why do you care so much, no one else seems to care.”

Out to dinner with a British friend I was discussing the fact that the Bolognese Sauce eaten all over the UK (and other parts of the world) is so completely different to what is eaten in Italy that it should just be called Beef and Tomato Sauce, not Bolognese.  Be it from a branded tin, a supermarket microwave meal, an 'authentic' Italian restaurant or from a recipe taken from a cook book like Jamie or Nigella's, I told her that Spaghetti Bolognese was in fact a British invention;  a dish as British as a bag of Fish and Chips which should not be confused with the Italian Ragú Bolognese originating from Bologna. While 'Spag Bol' has been a staple for thousands of diners around the world for decades,  the original recipe has become so corrupted it is in urgent need of culinary rescue.  

 

Minced BEEF Bolognese. Really...

Most people, particularly us Brits, get the recipe wrong from the very start, by using Spaghetti instead of Egg Tagliatelle; it should be 'Tag Bol' rather than 'Spag Bol'! The Ragú (sauce) recipe is quite specific and there is no room for adaptations as it is protected by Italian law.  It can contain only certain ingredients including specific cuts of meat, milk, just a touch of tomato puree, dry white wine not red, and can contain either chopped heart or liver. 

 

A 'true' Tagliatelle alla Bolognese using the ingredients as set down by the Emilia Romagna Chamber of Commerce in 1982. See the recipe at http://www.lasiciliana.net/i-primi-piatti.html

Since the 1970's and the advent of the package holiday to popular destinations such as Sorrento or Lido di Jesolo, Brits travelling to Italy searched in vain for a dish of their favourite‘Spag Bol’ and when they did find it, it wasn’t quite what they were expecting and many complained.  In the end the more touristy establishments, fed up with this constant demand, put this British staple on the menu to keep the British punters happy.  

Typical so called 'Italian' Menu - this particular Bolognese contains mice! A typo I'm sure...and yet? The rest of the dishes are typically British, certainly you wouldn't find them in any restaurant in Italy...except perhaps in a tourist hub catering especially for British diners...

The Emilia Romagna Chamber of Commerce (Bologna is in the region of Emilia Romagna) was so upset at the damage caused by this British misrepresentation of its most famous sauce that it lobbied the Italian government and in 1982 finally managed to get a law passed to protect the sauce.  So since 1982 Ragu Bolognese has been protected under the DOP law (Denominazione di Origine Protetta – Designated Protection of Origin) which in theory prohibits people from using the name unless the sauce conforms to a specific list of ingredients.  Parmesan Cheese, Parma Ham, Mozzarella Bufala di Campania, Bronte Pistachios, Chianti, Valpolicella, and other wines and spirits etc are all protected by the same law. 

Parmigiano Reggiano D.O.P. - anything else just isn't Parmesan

Outside Italy the law is generally adhered to, but you sometimes see people getting around the labelling of products by writing things like ‘Parmesan Style Cheese’ or ‘Parma Type Ham’.  When it comes to Bolognese sauce though, the law flies out of the window, and of course food companies, supermarket ready meals, restaurants, TV cooking shows, recipe books, magazines and people in their own kitchens can do what they want outside Italy. As long as the sauce tastes good what is the problem!!!

Fake Parmesan cheese with suspect labelling designed to make customers believe it is the real thing (some more blatant than others),  impounded by Coldiretti, an Italian agricultural body, created to protect Italian farmers against such damaging practises.

I pointed all these things out to my friend and said I wished people would stop 'bastardizing' Italian food and misusing food names on labels, but she replied “Why do you care so much, no one else seems to care.” She’s right of course, no one in Britain probably does care, except maybe a handful of like-minded ‘foodies’...or maybe more people would care if the subject under discussion was the bastardisation of British food...

 Scenario 1:

Average Italian couple on holiday in Britain come across a ‘traditional’ Italian Ristorante serving authentic Italian dishes. They sit down and pick up a menu:

"Ohhh,” says the man “Authentic Italian Carbonara!”

“Mmmm,“says the lady “Traditional Pasta alla Bolognese!”

They order their food. The waiter brings it over.

The Italian man says “Waiter! This isn’t Carbonara! It’s made with cream, not egg. And where is the guanciale (pigs’ cheek)? Carbonara is made with guanciale, not chopped bacon and certainly not chicken. It tastes OK...but this isn’t an AUTHENTIC Carbonara. Tell your chef to get his facts right!”

Typical restaurant 'creamy' Carbonara...except...there is no cream in a true Carbonara!

His wife says, “And this is NOT a Bolognese sauce! It’s a nice beef sauce...but it’s the wrong type of meat and it’s laced with garlic, full of tomato AND served with Spaghetti which is the wrong pasta - certainly not a Bolognese...which incidentally is protected under the Designated Protection of Origin since 1982, so only a sauce made using the traditional ingredients is allowed to carry the Bolognese name!

The waiter shrugs his shoulders and walks away. He thinks, like most of you reading this blog "What a couple of moaning Italians! So what! As long as it tastes OK... For goodness sake, stop complaining, shut up and just eat it!"

All I can say is this: just reverse the situation... 

Scenario 2:

Average British couple on holiday in Italy come across an English style pub serving good old English ‘Fayre’. They sit down and pick up a menu:

“Oohh,” says the man “Authentic Shepherd’s Pie!” 

“Mmmm,” says his lady “Traditional Melton Mowbray Pork Pie!”

They order their food. It arrives.

The outraged English man says “Waiter! This isn’t an AUTHENTIC Shepherd’s pie! It’s made with minced beef, not lamb. And where’s my mash?  Shepherd’s Pie is made with minced LAMB and topped with mashed potato, not flaky pastry. How can you call this a Shepherd’s pie without the mash??? This is just a normal pastry pie! It tastes nice...but this isn’t a Shepherd’s pie waiter. Your chef should get his facts right!”

Traditional Shepherd's Pie made with minced  Lamb and Mashed Potato. Is it still a Shepherd's pie if it's made with minced Beef and Pastry?

His angry wife says, “And this is certainly NOT a TRADITIONAL Melton Mowbray Pork Pie! It’s a nice pie but it's made made with chicken and pork, and short crust pastry...but it’s not a Pork Pie, and certainly not Melton Mowbray...which incidentally is protected under the European Protected Designation of Origin since 2008, so only pies made within a designated zone around Melton, and using the traditional ingredients are allowed to carry the Melton Mowbray name!” 

It's all in the name...Is it a Melton Mowbray or just a run-of-the-mill Pork Pie?

The waiter shrugs his shoulders and walks away. He doesn't understand these crazy British people. To him a pie is just a pie...surely it doesn't matter if the meat is wrong, the pastry is wrong and there is no mashed potato topping on the Sheperd's pie. For goodness sake! Stop complaining and just eat the pies.

Anyway, the British couple return to England, they laugh and tell all their friends about the Shepherd’s Pie and the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie fiasco and how funny the English restaurants in Italy are; it’s a favourite dinner party topic for years..."The waiter couldn't understand the difference between a Shepherd's pie and a normal pie, what a numpty...ha, ha, ha!" 

(NB. It’s a pity that no one in Britain thought to protect Cheddar Cheese in the same way as the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie either, then we wouldn’t be subjected to so many awful versions originating all over the place! Cheddar cheese is a strong, pale yellow, often sharp cheese from the small village of Cheddar, Somerset in the South West of England – nothing like the mild orange coloured imitations found in America or Australia – but that’s a topic for another blogger’s  blog...) 

Fellow foodies, would you care if your Shepherd’s Pie came without the mash topping? After all...it's just a name! What about the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie? It's protected by law, but so what! Shouldn't we be able to call any type of Pork Pie a Melton Mowbray? What about Cheddar Cheese, just because it's not protected like Parmesan should we just accept a foreign imitation because someone has told us it's called Cheddar? Wouldn't you like to protect Somerset Cheddar if you could? Should you care about a proper Bolognese then? Or even a Carbonara? Or doesn't it matter because it's Italian?

I care about all these things with a passion, but then I'm passionate about all food - not just Italian. Is it just me and as my friend says, “...no one else but you seems to care.” Is there ANYONE out there who feels the same as me?

American Cheddar Cheese??? Not to my eyes or taste - too orange and just not Cheddar.

  Please feel free to comment...