In Italian cuisine, ragù (; from French ragoût) is a meat sauce commonly served with pasta. An Italian gastronomic society, Accademia Italiana della Cucina, has documented several ragù recipes. The recipes' common characteristics are the presence of meat and the fact that all are sauces for pasta. The most typical is (Bolognese sauce). Other types include (Neapolitan ragù), , (ragù from Bari, sometimes made with horse meat), and (a traditionally tomatoless duck ragù, from Veneto).
Varieties
In northern Italian regions, ragù typically uses minced, chopped or ground meat, cooked with sauteed vegetables (soffritto) in a liquid, which traditionally include liquidized tomatoes, but also exist in tomatoless versions referred to as (white ragù). The meats may include one or more of beef, chicken, pork, duck, goose, lamb, mutton, veal, or game, including their offal. The liquids can be broth, stock, water, wine, milk, cream or tomato, often in combination. In southern Italian versions such as ragù napoletano, tomatoes are used more prominently, whereas northern versions such as ragù alla bolognese typically include them in limited quantities relative to the meat, making it a meat stew rather than a tomato sauce with added meat.
In southern Italian regions, ragù is often prepared from substantial quantities of large, whole cuts of beef and pork, and sometimes regional sausages, cooked with vegetables and tomatoes. After a long braise (or simmer), the meats are removed and may be served as a separate course without pasta. Examples of these dishes are (Neapolitan ragù) and .
History
The term comes from the French and reached the Emilia-Romagna region in the late 18th century, perhaps following Napoleon's 1796 invasion and occupation of those northern regions.
The first ragù as a sauce, , was recorded by Alberto Alvisi, the cook to the Cardinal of Imola (at the time was a general term for pasta, both dried and fresh). The recipe was replicated and published as (').
After the early 1830s, recipes for ragù appear frequently in cookbooks from the Emilia-Romagna region. By the late 19th century the cost of meat saw the use of heavy meat sauces on pasta reserved to feast days and Sundays, and only among the wealthier classes of the newly unified Italy.
Independent research by Kasper