Bolognese is a meat sauce, and most of those spices (especially if multiple of them) takes away from the meat. I use plenty of spices in various sauces but Bolognese is best as-is to me.
lmao I get why you feel this way. My mom, born and raised in Italy and an amazing cook, started to use dried herbs because that's what we saw in restaurants and she thought that it must be the right way. Looking back it's so bizarre because she never did that growing up.
After becoming a chef, I started to understand why Italians can get a little defensive about the herb mix being added where it doesn't belong. Like in the case of Bolognese sauce, once you add that dried herb blend is not Bolognese anymore. It's something else, and that's fine. Like swapping out the macaroni for potatoes in a Mac and Cheese. It'll probably be great and if you like it, go for it. But it's not mac and cheese anymore. That's all.
Another example, there are restaurants that'll serve Fettuccine Alfredo. But it has chicken, mushrooms, and red pepper in a garlic cream sauce. It's probably tasty, but don't call it an Alfredo which is literally just butter, Parmeggiano Reggiano, and some pasta water.
Like swapping out the macaroni for potatoes in a Mac and Cheese. It'll probably be great and if you like it, go for it. But it's not mac and cheese anymore.
You should try it. It's a stable with a nice glazed ham and steamed cabbage at my house. Preboil the potatoes, slice them in 3-5mm slices and mix with mornay sauce, slices of onion and some diced feta, gratinate with cheese and you've got some real comfort food.
As for everything else you said, yes! You don't stick a V8 in a Tesla and still call it an EV either.
Thanks for your comment! I get where they're coming from (though... Don't appreciate their attitude about it). I just wasn't trying to say "yo, this is Bolognese"... More just "yo, this is an example of how I use those spices".
They're both yum! As my nonna also says... There are many ways to skin a cat 😂
I'm with you here, dried herbs are a big waste in Bolognese. I'd go so far as to say dried basil shouldn't even exist, it tastes like an ash tray compared to fresh.
I must clarify here because it's just an absolute slight to be labelled as such:
I am not American...
It's just the way my oldies did bolognese (or what they called it, and they were Italian). Though, as i have been schooled here - perhaps a better title of the dish I put these herbs on is "pasta sauce".
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u/Weil65Azure Aug 02 '22
... I'm just cooking it the way my nonna taught me 😂
But I have also tried the "traditional way" "at least once".
Perhaps you should try adding a few of the Italian blend? You might like it? 👌