Bolognese Sauce - Origin and History

Origin and History

The earliest documented recipe for a meat-based sauce (ragù) served with pasta comes from late 18th century Imola, near Bologna. Pellegrino Artusi first published a recipe for a meat sauce characterized as being bolognese in his cookbook published in 1891. Artusi's recipe, Maccheroni alla bolognese, is thought to derive from the mid 19th century when he spent considerable time in Bologna. (In Artusi's time, maccheroni was a generic term for pasta, both dried and fresh.)

Artusi's sauce called for predominantly lean veal filet along with pancetta, butter, onion, and carrot. The meats and vegetables were to be finely minced, cooked with butter until the meats browned, then covered and cooked with broth. Artusi commented that the taste could be made even more pleasant by adding small pieces of dried mushroom, a few slices of truffle, or a chicken liver cooked with the meat and diced. As a final touch, he also suggested adding half a glass of cream to the sauce when it was completely done to make it taste even smoother. Artusi recommended serving the sauce with a medium size pasta ("horse teeth") made from durum wheat. The pasta was to be made fresh, cooked until it was firm, and then flavored with the sauce and Parmigiano cheese.