CIVI LT À TAVOLA - Accademia Italiana della Cucina · CESARE CHIODI, GIANNINO CITTERIO, ERNESTO...

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2016ACCADEMIA ITALIANA DELLA CUCINA

A CULTURAL INSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF ITALYFOUNDED IN 1953 BY ORIO VERGANI

www.accademia1953.it

CIVILTÀDELLATAVOLAACCADEMIA ITALIANA DELLA CUCINA

INTERNATIONAL

EDITION

CdT_286_COVER_INGLESE_Acca 13/10/16 14:22 Pagina 1

FOCUS2 Amatriciana: the symbolic dish which has nurtured solidarity (Paolo Petroni)

CULTURE AND RESEARCH3 Gricia and amatriciana: golden rules of preparation (Francesco Maria Palomba)

5 Olindo Guerrini and his delicious treatise (Pino Jubatti)

7 Orio Vergani’s secrets (Carla Bertinelli Spotti)

9 Spaghetti alla bolognese on trial (Piergiulio Giordani Pavanelli)

On the cover: Detail from the painting “TheOutdoor Wedding Dance” (circa 1610) by PieterBrueghel the Younger, private collection, USA.

PAGE 1

INTERNATIONAL EDITION

OCTOBER 2016 / N. 286

EDITOR IN CHIEFPAOLO PETRONI

COPY EDITORSILVIA DE LORENZO

LAYOUTSIMONA MONGIU

TRANSLATORANTONIA FRASER FUJINAGA

THIS ISSUE INCLUDES ARTICLES BYCarla Bertinelli Spotti,

Piergiulio Giordani Pavanelli,Pino Jubatti,

Francesco Maria Palomba,Paolo Petroni.

� � �

PUBLISHERACCADEMIA ITALIANA DELLA CUCINA

VIA NAPO TORRIANI 31 - 20124 MILANOTEL. 02 66987018 - FAX 02 66987008

[email protected]@[email protected]

www.accademia1953.it

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MONTHLY MAGAZINEREG. N. 4049 - 29-5-1956TRIBUNALE DI MILANO

Rivista associataall’Unione StampaPeriodica Italiana

L’ACCADEMIA ITALIANA DELLA CUCINAFOUNDED IN 1953 BY ORIO VERGANI

AND LUIGI BERTETT, DINO BUZZATI TRAVERSO,CESARE CHIODI, GIANNINO CITTERIO,

ERNESTO DONÀ DALLE ROSE, MICHELE GUIDO FRANCI,GIANNI MAZZOCCHI BASTONI, ARNOLDO MONDADORI, ATTILIO NAVA, ARTURO ORVIETO, SEVERINO PAGANI,

ALDO PASSANTE, GIANLUIGI PONTI, GIÒ PONTI,DINO VILLANI, EDOARDO VISCONTI DI MODRONE,

WHIT MASSIMO ALBERINI AND VINCENZO BUONASSISI.

CIVILTÀDELLATAVOLAACCADEMIA ITALIANA DELLA CUCINA

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S O M M A R I OT A B L E O F C O N T E N T S

F C U S

W hen a terrible earthquake de-vastated various areas of cen-tral Italy in late August, the

September issue of this magazine had al-ready been printed and was ready for swiftdelivery to our readers: consequently wewere unable to modify its content. There-fore we published a special edition of ourmonthly Newsletter online, to inform thepublic about the general situation andabout the Academicians potentially invol-ved in the quake. Luckily, none were re-ported injured, though unfortunately two Academiciansresiding in Accumoli and Arquata del Tronto had theirhomes destroyed. As you presumably know from televisionand newspapers, both funds and people (including FrancescoPalomba, our Delegate for Rieti and a Red Cross official;his sister Giovanna; Alessandro Caponi, a physician andCouncillor for Ascoli Piceno, who spared no effort notwi-thstanding the loss of his home in Arquata; and GiuseppeMarrani, former Delegate for the Apuan Alps region andan official of the national Civil Protection force) have beendecisively mobilised. This is by no means the first calamityto visit our peninsula, but never before did so many asso-ciations rush to the aid of the stricken areas: in particular,chefs, restaurants, the Slow Food movement, and likewise

- and immediately - our Academy, with aprogramme which, being far from generic,is tailored for the provision of direct andpersonal assistance to organisations andindividuals in line with our statutory aims.The credit for all this goes to a humblebut celebrated recipe: spaghetti all’ama-triciana (Amatrice-style spaghetti). Thisdish is famous throughout the world, and,together with spaghetti alla carbonaraand tagliatelle with ragù, it is one of themain symbols of our traditional cuisine.

Many are aware that this pasta was apparently created inRome by a cook from Amatrice: here it is often termed‘matriciana’, it uses bucatini rather than spaghetti, and itoften features guanciale and a little onion. It is said that atAmatrice, ‘amatriciana’ was instead prepared withouttomato and termed ‘gricia’. Even Ada Boni refers to griciaas ‘amatriciana’ in her celebrated book dedicated to Romancooking. But in the face of the recent catastrophe, none ofthis matters much: what is imperative is to help Amatriceand the other stricken towns, which were largely unknownbefore these events. And it must be pointed out that ifAmatrice had not been among the areas affected, thingswould have gone differently. A dish, a symbol, has beenmore effective than any number of words.

Amatriciana: the symbolic dish which has nurtured solidarityThe Academy comes to the aid of our traditions.

BY PAOLO PETRONIPresident of the Academy

On the occasion of its Ecumenical Dinner in October, the Italian Academy of Cuisine will pay homage toour quake-stricken friends with a flavoursome dish of amatriciana pasta, whether red or white, linked toan entirely voluntary donation in favour of restaurants, cooks, hotel management students, artisans,butchers, bakers and others, according to the indications provided by our regional branches. The funds

will be delivered rapidly and directly, without middlemen or deductions for expenses.

Accademia Italiana della Cucina - raccolta fondi Aree TerremotateIBAN IT14 A033 5901 6001 0000 0145 608 - SWIFT/BIC BCITITMXCausale: donazione a favore del terremoto Centro Italia agosto 2016

S O M M A R I OC U L T U R E & R E S E A R C H

BY FRANCESCO MARIA PALOMBADelegate for Rieti

Recipes which symbolise the Rieti province, and today also represent worldwide solidarity.

Gricia and amatriciana: golden rules of preparation

L’ ‘Amatriciana’ or ‘matriciana’is a pasta-based dish whichtakes its name from Amatrice,

a city in the province of Rieti. Its mainingredients are guanciale (jowl bacon),pecorino cheese and tomato. It is onthe official list of traditional food pro-ducts of the Lazio region.The ancestor of amatriciana is ‘gricia’(or ‘griscia’), also known as ‘white ama-triciana’. Its name is said to derive fromGrisciano, a small town a few kilometresaway from Amatrice, in the environsof Accumoli.The recipe has a specific geographicalorigin and has long been deeply rootedin the region. It is a simple pasta dish,invented before the arrival of tomatoin the region by the shepherds of Ama-trice who took along rucksacks full of

pecorino, black pepper bags, dry pastaand guanciale when they stayed up inthe mountains for what were often ra-ther long stretches of time. Since notall the types of pasta now availableexisted at the time, it is thought thatspaghettiwas the pasta they used.With the arrival of tomatoes in Europeand the invention of tomato sauce inthe late 18th century, amatricianawasdeveloped. The first written record oftomato sauce being used as a condi-ment for pasta is in the cooking manualentitled L’Apicio moderno, written in1790 by the Roman cook FrancescoLeonardi.The dish became increasingly popularin Rome between the nineteenth andearly twentieth century: news of it rea-ched the capital along with the she-


ECUMENICAL DINNER 2016Our ecumenical gathering, which invites all Academicians in Italy and abroad to a virtual dinner ta-ble, will take place on 20 October at 8:30 PM. The President has invited all Delegates worldwide

to dedicate the Ecumenical Dinner not only to the cuisine of reuse as previouslyagreed, but also to the cuisine of Amatrice, by including spaghetti all’amatri-ciana in the menu in both its red (with tomato) and white or ‘alla gricia’ (wi-thout tomato) versions. In the course of the convivial meeting, the Delegates willalso gather totally voluntary donations for each dish served and will depositthem in the Academy’s dedicated fundraising account. The proceeds will be

directly delivered to the restaurateurs, cooks or professional institutes indicated tothe President by the Delegates thus tasked, according to region. On this occasion too, the

Academy will do its part in support of our regional cuisine.

pherds who seasonally moved theirflocks to the Roman countryside. Thedish was originally named ‘matriciana’rather than ‘amatriciana’, since the in-habitants of Amatrice called themselves‘matriciani’ without the initial ‘a’. The-refore the famous dish also took thatname, which morphed over time to‘amatriciana’.Several taverners and innkeepers inRome came from Amatrice, such thatthe term ‘matriciano’ came to mean‘inn serving food’; and amatriciana,though invented elsewhere, soon be-came a classic of Roman cuisine.The recipe strictly requires spaghettirather than bucatini (hollow spaghetti),as witnessed inter alia by the billboardsat the entrance of Amatrice, proclaimingit “the city of spaghetti all’amatriciana”.Some variants, differing only slightlyamong themselves, are found in Ama-trice families: for instance, one or twosmashed cloves of garlic may be added;the ingredients can all be mixed inwhile raw, or instead the guanciale,fried and drained, can be added whenthe tomato is already simmering; aspoonful of rendered lard or half a glassof white wine can be added; or bucatinican be used instead of spaghetti.According to Secondino Freda, ama-triciana was invented by a skilled cook

from Amatrice resident in Rome, whocreated the oft-claimed recipe in thecapital and called it ‘spaghetti all’ama-triciana’ in honour of his native area,since it was a variant of gricia. In favourof this theory is the fact that the tomatoused for amatriciana is ‘casalino’, typi-cally found around Rome. Another, lessplausible hypothesis is that some guestsat a Roman nobleman’s luncheon askedthe cook what was the flavoursomedish offered them, and she answered“spaghetti alla matriciana”, becauseguanciale was termed ‘matrice’ in Ro-man dialect at the time, probably byassociation with sow bacon.There are now efforts to have amatri-ciana recognised as ‘Traditional Spe-ciality Guaranteed’, a designation betterknown as TSG and introduced by theEU to protect products dependent ontraditional recipes or production me-thods.This certification, governed by CouncilRegulation (EC) No. 509/2006 (whichreplaces the preceding regulation2082/92), differs from other schemessuch as PDO (Protected Designationof Origin) and PGI (Protected Geogra-phical Indication) in that it concernsagricultural and food products whosespecificity depends on production me-thods or composition linked to regional

tradition, even if they do not necessarilyoriginate in that region. A TSG productmust adhere to a precise productionprotocol. The two recipes below follow the tra-ditional methods of ingredient selectionand preparation. The suggestions beloware crucial both for gricia and amatri-ciana: � Use high-quality dry durum wheatspaghetti.� The guanciale must never be replacedby pancetta (which derives from porkbelly and changes the flavour). Guan-ciale comes from the jowl and is there-fore a finer fat with a more subtle andfragrant flavour compared to pancetta;it is the most indispensable ingredient.� Use moderately aged pecorino fromAmatrice, preferably marzolino, namelythe variety produced in spring whenthe sheep can browse among the finestherbs: it is delicately flavoured, notoverly salty, and faintly piquant (abso-lutely avoid pecorino romano, which ismuch saltier). � Avoid oil, whose acidity could alterthe taste; at most, use a spoonful ofrendered lard with a delicate and sweetflavour.� It is best to use a cast-iron pan toprepare this dish.

FRANCESCO MARIA PALOMBA


T he 2016 Ecumenical Dinner,whose ‘rediscovered theme’ isthe cuisine of reuse, coincides

with the centenary of the passing of thegreat Olindo Guerrini (1845-1916),marked last June at Casa Artusi in For-limpopoli and in Sant’Alberto di Ravennawhere Guerrini was raised, in a proudhomage to an eminent local figure and,first and foremost, of his acclaimed bookon the “art of re-using leftovers”. Thisfollowed a brilliant introduction by Ho-norary President Giovanni Ballarini onthat work’s gastro-historical aspects andthe complex personality of its author,known by many flippant pseudonymsincluding Lorenzo Stecchetti. The concept

of reuse has, incidentally, not escapedthe mainstream news, since everyoneis now aware of the noble (and indeedpapally blessed) gesture by MassimoBottura, chef of the Osteria Francescanarestaurant, who directed the deliciousreuse of the numerous leftovers fromthe Milan Expo, an operation dubbed“Refettorio Ambrosiano”, in which overninety needy homeless individuals inMilan were treated to a succession ofbanquets - an initiative with a glamorousaftermath, since the respected actor Ro-bert De Niro teamed up with Bottura tolaunch a similar project in the Bronx!Let us return to the 2016 Ecumenicaltheme: reuse of leftovers. It would be a

BY PINO JUBATTIVasto Academic

“…it is economically sound to serve lavish and sumptuous meals, because one can live off the leftovers for a week!”.

Olindo Guerrini and his delicious treatise

C U L T U R E A N D R E S E A R C HS O M M A R I OC U L T U R E & R E S E A R C H

fascinating topic for an audience of asufficient age to fully appreciate thedeeper and semantically complex mea-ning of the word ‘reuse’ - or better, tounderstand the significance of a long-dormant gastronomic ritual, once theculinary warhorse of an irreverent poetand man of letters in a frightening timeof scarcity and rationing, and now revivedat the dawn of the third millennium. In-deed, it is worth noting that Guerrini/Stec-chetti chose to complete his magnumopus, L’arte di utilizzare gli avanzi dellamensa (The Art of Reusing Leftovers), inthe middle of the Great War, shortly be-fore he passed away (the work was re-leased by the Formiggini publishinghouse two years later, in 1918). Thisbecame a resource of considerable im-portance, not only for its literary worthbut for its apparent ‘survival value’ inview of the persistently gloomy wartimeatmosphere. However, such an asses-sment is not quite accurate. Firstly - set-ting aside a few publications of the time,explicitly dedicated to economising onfood for the benefit of the needy prole-tariat, if not the so-called ‘war cuisine’ -this would contradict the message in-herent in the book’s subtitle (and fla-voursome frugality). Secondly, it woulddemonstrate an incomplete understan-ding of the elevated message of thebook (which, interestingly, is a collectiblework also because of the illustrationsby the acclaimed painter and caricaturistAugusto Majani, better known by thepseudonym Nasica). Today, in circum-stances so remote from the specific war-

time conditions which gave rise to thebook, we must strive to understand ca-reful nutrition, a challenging conceptfor those who are witnesses or victimsof overfeeding and its regrettable pa-thological consequence elegantly termed‘obesity’. Returning to the forthrightsubject matter of the book - notable forpresenting both the practical and thehedonistic rewards of reusing leftovers,virtues dramatically demonstrated bythe aforementioned Bottura episode - itis incumbent to disseminate its contentsand the ideas of its author, a genius,gourmet and man of letters. To clarify:reuse - a habit which persisted throu-ghout most of the twentieth centuryand now survives only among the socialclasses which have no other choice, not-withstanding socio-ideological confusionon the matter - does not arise from needcaused by severe food scarcity such asthat which gave rise to the celebratedbook. Since the aim is to offer pleasantmethods of ‘economising for the family’,the concept embodies a set of precisehabits regarding expenditure and con-sumption, as eloquently implied by thecouplet printed under the title (attributedto a niece of Guerrini). This differs mar-kedly from the impudently modern andmorally suspect paradigm tastelesslytermed ‘consumerism’.In the Introduction, the author’s joculartone exhibits rare amiability (“In truth,given the import of the book, I shouldsay ‘Appetiser’ instead of ‘Introduction’,but I prefer to follow the older custom,since if there is an art which resists fu-

turism, that art is cooking... The art ofcooking is conservative and traditionalist,as this example demonstrates”). A cen-tury later, the work remains relevanteven to those who achieve “starred sta-tus” through questionable machinationsand considerable expense. It would, ofcourse, be silly and reprehensible togloss over Guerrini’s contact with thepride of Forlimpopoli, Pellegrino Artusi,whose letters were brimming with hel-pful advice. The two interacted on ahuman and intellectual level: for instancein 1899, Olindo Guerrini presented Pel-legrino Artusi with a satyrical recipeentitled “grillò abbragiato”, intendedto bring about “the ultimate defeat ofnineteenth-century cooking and Frenchfads”. Touché! The end of the Intro-duction eloquently captures the essenceof that friendship - sealed with an au-tographed copy of the third edition ofArtusi’s classic La scienza in cucina(Science in the Kitchen) - in the passagewhere Guerrini meditates: “But a flawwhich no contrition or confession willrectify is the frequent absence of quan-tities, weights and cooking times, indi-cations which instead render Artusi’sbook so useful and valuable... Thenagain, any cooks with a modicum ofexperience in the art will soon findtheir bearings. These minor difficultiescan be overcome with patience andgood judgement. The modest but judi-cious donkey can prepare meatballs,unlike many professors whose judge-ment is merely feigned!”.

PINO JUBATTI

THE ACADEMY SILVER PLATEAn elegant silver plated dish engraved with the Academy logo. This symbolic object may be presented to restaurants that displayexceptional service, cuisine and hospitality. Delegates may contact the Milan Headquarters ([email protected]) for more information and orders.


T he Cremona Delegation attracteda large and attentive audiencewith its interesting meeting “Orio

Vergani: a timely vision”, dedicated tothe rediscovery of the human and cul-tural sides of the Academy’s founderand organised in collaboration with theChamber of Commerce and the Sorop-timist association. To gain some realinsight into his character, the journalistFrancesco Ballarini held a dialogue withVera Pescarolo, who is not only a woman

steeped in culture and cinema, but alsoOrio’s niece. She recounted his life star-ting from his birth in Milan in 1898, ina family vigorously involved in literature,theatre and journalism. His mother,Maria Podrecca, was a close associateof Anna Kuliscioff and had a strong per-sonality and a commitment to politicaland social issues. Her brothers were ac-tive on the political and artistic sceneof the time: Guido was a journalist andeditor of the political satire newspaper

BY CARLA BERTINELLI SPOTTICremona Academician

Through his niece’s recollections, the Cremona Delegation retraces both famous andobscure episodes in the life of the Academy’s founder.

Orio Vergani’s secrets


L’Asino (The Donkey); Vittorio had foun-ded the Teatro dei Piccoli, a renownedmusical marionette theatre which re-mains active today. This is where Oriowas initially apprenticed, but differingages and worldviews soon caused Orioto depart for Rome and join the staff ofthe newspaper Il Messaggero. There hemet a number of ‘greats’ including LuigiPirandello, who became an importantreference point for Vergani where theatreand the art of writing were concerned.Recruited to the newspaper Corrieredella Sera by Ugo Ojetti in 1926, he re-mained there for 34 years, writing thou-sands of articles on culture, politics andsports. In Rome he had frequented theAragno café, a haunt of painters, jour-nalists, and men of letters and culture;in Milan he patronised Bagutta, a rusticrestaurant where artists, literary authorsand journalists gathered each week: atransition from the literary café to theliterary dinner. And so it was that onthe evening of 11 November 1926, theBagutta literary prize was established.The award menu was as follows: Pepo-ri-style mixed appetisers; Bagutta-styleravioli in broth; Ugo’s mixed fry; boiledchicken with speedy vegetables; andabundant cheese, fruit and wine. Veraknew this place well, for her uncle oftentook her there. Orio described it thus:“...a place where we gather as the Mila-nese do, eat Tuscan food, and pay Ro-man-style, splitting the cost equally. Aperfect trinity of Italian unity... an ex-perience more human than literary; ameeting of gentlemen whom only a di-stinctive and stern upbringing could in-duce to abandon their victuals for amoment and return a greeting. Friendsunited by a love of conviviality... Theprize dinner was an extraordinary ga-stronomic and literary experience, adelightfully boisterous atmosphere for-tified by home-style cooking and earnestfraternal solidarity”.The combination of culture, friendshipand freedom, however, was consideredinconvenient, and in 1936 the Ministryof Popular Culture forced the closureof the prize. The Bagutta prize resumedin 1947, accompanied by other food

and literature events. Food and cuisinebegan to attract attention, and Oriowas always on the front lines. As a jour-nalist, he often wrote about sports, con-tributing to the legendary status of theGiro d’Italia and the Tour de France,both of which he covered 25 times. Hedid this in his own style, however. Veraremembers occasionally joining him atsome of the stops along the Giro d’Italia,and there was a distinctive atmospherein the traditional restaurants where me-als were held. Indeed, her uncle alwaysprepared parallel artistic and gastro-nomic itineraries for the Giro and theTour. The eminent journalist and hi-storian Indro Montanelli recounts how“...he knew everything about the Girod’Italia and the Tour de France - exceptwho had won that leg of the race, be-cause on the way he’d stopped at a trat-toria famous for its roasts or stockfish,whose delights would be praised in hissubsequent article”. Vera spent consi-derable time in her uncle’s house inMilan, with her aunt Mimì and cousinsGuido and Leonardo, and remembersthat “he often brought regional specia-lities home from his travels round Italy;he would also frequently visit shopswhere high-quality goods were sold,such as Peck in Milan, and bring usfoods which we’d never encounteredbefore, describing their particularitiesand flavours for us. It was a rare thing,because food and cuisine weren’t oftendiscussed in people’s homes as they arenow. Instead, Orio would make us un-derstand what a risotto really was, andhow to eat well... Going out to eat withhim was like going to the theatre or anart exhibition, such was his culture onthe topic”.The establishment of the Academy ama-zed all his relatives, even though hehad always had the strong desire tobring renown to the gastronomic artsof Italy’s many regions. Honorary President Giovanni Ballariniconcluded the meeting by recountingthe foundation of the Academy and itssignificance. The idea came to Verganiduring the Tour de France, when henoted how the French were able to pro-

mote their cuisine, wine and cheese.As he admitted himself, the Academywas born “from the travel notes of anitinerant journalist who was flabber-gasted when, in the civilised Veneto re-gion, waiters offered him Milanese cu-tlets and expressed amazement whenhe asked for the Treviso sausages dubbed‘luganeghe’, a local speciality; while therestaurateur, who hailed from Cone-gliano, also in the Veneto, hurriedly of-fered him Tuscan wines rather than thewines of his own Piave region”. He im-mediately called upon Dino Villani, and,meeting him in Suzzara, introduced hisidea. They rejected the name ‘club’ “sinceit doesn’t have the prestige in Italy thatit does abroad, while the term ‘Academy’seemed overly grand and hyperbolic”.But some time later, they met with Er-nesto Donà dalle Rose at the Continentalin Milan, and ‘Academy’ was in fact theword they chose. Giovanni Ballarini em-phasised that Vergani perceived the cul-tural implications of food within its hu-man aspect, and was therefore able tocreate an institution with an elevatedcultural profile, which he envisioned asan Academy in the Italian Renaissanceand classical Greek sense. Vergani con-ceived the Academy as an associationfor protecting and improving traditionsand standards and acknowledging hu-man and universal preoccupations,which are independent of time andplace, while forging a distinctive identitywhich would foster continuous research,study and understanding. For this am-bitious and challenging project he se-lected first-rate personalities at the topof their fields, whether they be culture,economics or publishing, to present acoherent conception of gastronomic ci-vility. It was clear from the start that inItaly, cuisine is traditional and regional,embodied in recipes passed from motherto daughter and ingredients found onlyin a particular area and nowhere else,in dishes that change with the terrain.These are traditions and flavours towhose protection Vergani and the Aca-demy contributed and still contributetoday.

CARLA BERTINELLI SPOTTI


T he vexed question of ‘spaghettialla bolognese’ has appearedfrequently in the press, espe-

cially in Bologna, in recent months. Giancarlo Roversi, honorary Acade-mician and eminent scholar of Bolo-gnese history, maintains that centuriesago, thin vermicelli noodles - ratherthan spaghetti - were dressed withragù in Bologna, but this doesn’t ne-cessarily justify the current ‘spaghettialla bolognese’ custom which, as di-scussed below, seems not to have exi-sted for a considerable time. It wasand remains common to enjoy farfalle,gobbetti, penne, gramigna and otherdry and preferably short pasta withmeat-based ragù, but not spaghetti; infact, at least until a few years ago, itwas the custom, especially on Fridays,

to prepare spaghettiwitha tomato and tuna sauce.We are well aware that‘spaghetti bolognese’, na-mely spaghettiwith ragù,is the most widespreadItalian dish abroad afterpizza: from Manila toWashington, from NewDelhi to Moscow, therewill always be restau-rants offering this dish.But if we go to a restau-rant in Bologna whichoffers local traditionalfood and ask for spaghet-ti alla bolognese, we’llnever find them! Thisdish is no longer part ofthe city’s food culture.This doesn’t mean thatthe dish itself is bad; in-

deed, if the spaghetti and the sauceare of good quality, this can be a tasty,nutritious and enjoyable food. Of cour-se, if local restaurants want to offer‘spaghetti alla bolognese’ to cater totourists, that is another matter entirely,a purely commercial decision whichhas nothing to do with local food cul-ture and history.If it’s true, as it may well be, that ver-micelli with ragùwere eaten in Bolognacenturies ago, it is also true that thesecame from the south, namely fromGragnano or Torre Annunziata, andwere therefore costly specialities en-joyed not by the masses but by thewealthier classes, such as the aristo-cracy or the new rich.The authentic traditional speciality ofBologna is tagliatelle with ragù. It is

difficult to determine whether taglia-telle or spaghetti are superior, sincethis depends on personal preference;however, we believe that a fresh, egg-based pasta such as tagliatelle com-plements a good meat ragù better thana dry pasta such as spaghetti could.In 1972, the Bologna Delegation de-posited the ‘golden rule of tagliatelle’in the Chamber of Commerce in thepresence of the famed gastronomicscholar Luigi Carnacina and the Com-mendatore Francesco Majani (patronof the still-extant Majani chocolatemanufacturer). It is recorded that thewidth of the Bolognese tagliatella,when cooked and served, must beequivalent to the height of the Torredegli Asinelli divided by 12.27, or pre-cisely 8 millimetres (6.5 to 7 beforecooking).Concerning ragù, its recipe was depo-sited in the Chamber of Commerce onthe 17th of October 1982, again by theBologna Delegation, and its currentincarnation is provided in the Acade-my’s recipe book.A final note: in 1931 the ‘Fameja Bul-gneisa’ (‘Bolognese Family’ in local dia-lect), headed at the time by the Nobellaureate Guglielmo Marconi, held acelebratory dinner to mark the putative500th anniversary of the invention ofthe tagliatella, giving no credence tothe legend attributing it to Master Za-firano, who is said to invented it in1503, inspired by the hair of LucreziaBorgia, wife of Alfonso d’Este; and noteven to the other, more Bolognese le-gend involving the tresses of Lucreziad’Este, who married Annibale Benti-voglio, lord of Bologna, in 1487.

BY PIERGIULIO GIORDANI PAVANELLIBologna Academician

The best-known Italian dish abroad, after pizza, is not part of Bolognese cuisine. Ragù accompanies tagliatelle rather than spaghetti.

Spaghetti alla bolognese on trial

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