The whole ‘how Italian is spaghetti bolognese?’ thing has taken another twist

We hope you're sitting down for this - spaghetti bolognese may just be Italian after all.

That's a hell of a revelation, and we'll gladly explain why. Recently, a claim was made that spaghetti bolognese, or Spaghetti al Ragu as it would be known in Italy, had nothing to do with the country of its apparent origin. The addition of herbs such as oregano and basil to the meat sauce would never be tolerated in the Mediterranean country and nor would garlic, they said, and Italians have disowned it for years and called it more of a British or Irish thing. Now, however, The Guardian reports that a marketing executive and writer from Bologna has reclaimed ownerwhip over the dish. Piero Valdiserra took it upon himself to study the issue after renowned chefs like Massimo Bottura and Antonio Carluccio rubbished the idea that it was an Italian dish. “As far as I am concerned, I remember myself, my friends, my relative and families, consuming spaghetti al ragù forever, so it is not only a matter of documents, but also family history,” he said. Despite his insistence that the people of Bologna did indeed consume the dish, he still believes that the correct pasta to use with the meat sauce is tagliatelle. “But this does not prevent the fact that, spaghetti, when they are well chosen, well cooked, dressed with a good sauce and maybe enriched with parmigiano cheese, are fantastic as well.”