Actually ITALIAN
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●  THURSDAY, MAY 28

It’s Not Spaghetti Bolognese. It Has Never Been Spaghetti Bolognese.

In Bologna, there is a document. An actual, official document, filed with the Bologna Chamber of Commerce in 1982, that defines exactly what ragù alla Bolognese is and how it is made. Spaghetti is not in the document. A mountain of tomatoes is not in the document. Garlic is not in the document. What is in the document is tagliatelle, time, and the understanding that some dishes are not suggestions — they are architecture.

Read the story → 3 MIN READ
SECTION 01
This week, on the table
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MYTHS
12 Things Americans Believe About Italian Food That Italians Have Never Heard Of
3 MIN
PASTA
Pasta al Pomodoro Has Four Ingredients. You’ve Been Adding Too Many
3 MIN
PASTA · LAZIO
Cacio e pepe, three ingredients, one hundred ways to ruin it.
3 MIN
OVERHEARD · OSTERIA DA ENZO, ROMA
"Garlic bread? Madonna mia. We don't even have a word for that. Bread is bread."
— ENZO, 62, OWNER. SAID WHILE PEELING POTATOES.
IL NOTIZIARIO — FREE NEWSLETTER
Every Sunday, one recipe and one strong opinion.
NO SPAM · UNSUBSCRIBE WHENEVER
SECTION 02
Still in our heads
FULL ARCHIVE →
MYTH-BUSTING · #001
Carbonara has never had cream. And it never will.
3 MIN
PASTA · LAZIO
Amatriciana, and the village that swears it’s theirs.
3 MIN
DESSERTS · VENETO
Tiramisù has zero ingredients you can’t pronounce.
3 MIN
PASTA · LAZIO
Pasta alla gricia: the carbonara that existed before eggs.
3 MIN
MYTH-BUSTING · #002
Pesto is never heated. Not even for a second.
3 MIN
PASTA · ALL ITALY
Spaghetti al pomodoro: the hardest dish you think you know.
3 MIN