Home Cooking 2022

There’s ITALIAN Bolognese, which is a meat gravy with maybe a little tomato paste, and Italian-American Bolognese, which is a tomato sauce with meat.

Both are good.

I’ve gone to the trouble to get guanciale to make ‘real’ carbonara. Totally worth it.

But this daddy pasta or caccio e uova or whatever you call it is delicious and I’m probably gonna make it tomorrow night just cuz it’s in my head again. And I still have more good parm to use up.

How would you describe this?

I make a 4x or 5x recipe at one time and it pretty much takes all day. But IMneverHO it is IT!

In Bologna they call that ragù. Italians in other regions might say ragù alla bolognese.

For us it would be too much tomato added - we like more a “classical” approach with very little to no tomatoes. The Spendid Table cookbook has a nice chapter about the evolution of ragu Bolognese in Emilia-Romagna with recipes we prefer over the one from Hazan

Bolognesi can argue about ragù no end. It’s one of those dishes where every family has its own recipe…Calling any particular one “authentic” is ridiculous.

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Totally agree. But ten years ago when one of our daughters had her first child I asked what food-wise I could bring her. She said and I quote “well, I wouldn’t say no to some B-sauce.” :slight_smile: Filled her freezer with two cup portions. Cook some pasta and make a salad and they could even entertain. :slight_smile:

re: What is / is not ‘real’ carbonara…

Adam Ragusea is a food vlogger I like not so much for his recipes (though they have some good tips) but for his thorough examination into food facts/science/myth/history. He actually manages to consult published experts when he tries to get answers.

Anyway, the first portion of this episode of his podcast is devoted to the whole “What is authentic Italian (or any regional/ethnic/national) food?”, and what obligation people who talk about food to a wider audience have to take the cultural context of it into account.

I generally like where he lands. YMMV

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I listened to his blathers. Uh huh🥱

I think we agree that the topic itself is tedious at this point. I just want noodles.

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Completely agree . It’s like the Christopher cross song . With the lyrics. Caught between the moon an New York city.

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That song, I am only somewhat ashamed to admit I know right off the top of my head, is “Arthur’s Theme (The Best That You Can Do)” from the movie Arthur starring Dudley Moore, Liza Minnelli, and Sir John Gielgud, which I saw with my great aunt in the theater in 1981.

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Not Dudley Moore’s best work.

Or Liza Minnelli’s. Or Sir John Gielgud’s.

Odd that you say so. It was critically acclaimed at the time, has a current 89% Fresh rating on RT, had several Oscar noms including Moore for best actor, Steve Gordon for best screenplay, and Gielgud took home the Best Supporting Actor award. The song also won for Best Original Song.

I remember enjoying it immensely as a 13 year old, and would base a lot of my teenage actor improv on Moore’s ‘drunk’ persona… steal from the best, right?

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I thought it was funny when I first saw it, but now the lovable drunk is pretty cringe-y.

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omg-- I haven’t thought about “Arthur” in years… I worked at a movie theater concession stand the summer after my freshman year in college and Arthur and La Cage au Folles were the two movies that played all summer long. I must have seen both of them dozens of times while working…I will admit, I haven’t been able to eat popcorn or drink a soda since that job…(we could have all we wanted for free, so we did)

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A what the heck . I pulled up to the drum set for a slow tempo groove. The russ kunkel groove with James Taylor. You guessed it Christopher cross. Sailing. That Steve gadd floor tom on the bridge. Don’t rush the tempo.

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Okay probably off-topic with the music riff going on, but here is tonight’s Peruvian rotisserie chicken. Overcooked like crazy (175 in the breast!!!), but still juicy. Only the fourth rotisserie I have made and still learning.

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