Ragu vs Bolognese? There’s a lot of confusion out there.
The short answer is: ragù is a sauce, and Bolognese means from Bologna, or in the style of Bologna. When the word Bolognese is added to ragu, it means a ragu from the Italian city of Bologna, or a Bologna-style ragu.
Not necessarily, since Bolognese refers to anything related to the city or area of Bologna in Italy.
Bolognese is a nickname for the full name: ragù alla Bolognese. Other types of ragù that are not from Bologna are therefore not ragù Bolognese.
Bolognese pronunciation | boh-loh-NYAY-zeh
That’s the gist of it. We know what ragù alla Bolognese is and where it comes from, but what exactly is ragu?
What is Ragu?
The Italian word ragù comes from the French word ragoût, which derives from the verb ragoûter — originally meaning to revive or stimulate the appetite or taste — or tasty, from the word goût (gū): taste.
Latin: gustus > Italian: gusto > French: goût > ragoûter > ragoût > Italian: ragù (why not ragusto?) > English, ditch the accent: ragu. (I love this stuff!)
Ragout vs Ragu
French ragoût is stew.
While Beef Bourguignon, Irish stews and Moroccan tajines could all fall under the French word ragoût, Italian ragù does not.
Italian ragù is not exactly ragoût.
Ragù is more of a combination of a French ragoût (stew) and a sauce served as a condiment to pasta (or sometimes polenta…) It is a stewed sauce.
Ragù is commonly made with chopped or ground meats and vegetables stewed in some kind of liquid, which can be water, wine (or a splash of alcohol like cognac), stock, milk, cream or a combination. It can also be made with fish, or just vegetables.
Ragu is not a tomato sauce
It is a common misconception that ragu is a tomato sauce. It is not.
Ragu certainly can have tomato in it. And many times it does, including in Ragu alla Bolognese. And ragù Napoletano, or Neapolitan ragu — which uses unground meat in the style of older ragus, or French ragoûts — includes lots of tomatoes or passata di pomodoro (tomato sauce), as well as basil, and other ingredients that reflect the geography of the sun-kissed south. Naples (Napoli) lies in an ideal tomato growing region around Mount Vesuvius, where the famous San Marzano tomatoes come from.
(This may be the beginning of why ragu is associated with tomato sauce in the US in last century. During the great depression, an Italian couple from Naples, selling jars of their family tomato sauce from their New York front porch, grew into an international company with the brand of sauces we know as … ragú.)
However, over the bigger historical picture, ragus have not had tomatoes. Italian ragù predates the tomato’s 16th century introduction, and much later, late 18th century acceptance and spread of tomatoes in the Old World. (Notice an ingredient missing from Artusi’s 19th century recipe.)
Today’s official Ragù alla Bolognese has tomatoes, but there are white ragus without tomatoes. (Ragù alla Bolognese Bianco or Bolognese Bianca …) In fact, the best meat ragu I’ve ever eaten was baked into a lasagna with ragù Bianco, which a nice boy in Milan brought to me many years ago from his Emilia Romagnan mother. It was a revelation at the time, and white ragus, or almost white ragus, have been my preference ever since.
So, while ragu is a sauce that can have tomato, ragu is not a tomato sauce.
To Sum Up: Ragu vs Bolognese
Ragu is a stewed sauce (and not necessarily with tomatoes).
Bolognese doesn’t necessarily refer to a sauce or to ragu. It just refers to the people of Bologna, as they do in Bologna, or Bologna-style.
Ragù alla Bolognese is a ragu made the way a lot of people from around the city, hills and plains of the Italian province of Bologna make it.
Of course in Bologna, they just call the stewed sauce … ragù.
Recipes with Ragu alla Bolognese
Ragout Quiz
- Ragù Napoletano? How they like to make ragu in Naples.
- Ragù alla contadina? (farmer’s ragu) You guessed it: how some farmers like to make ragu.
- Ragù di osso buco? A ragu made with veal shank. (So calling it Bolognese Osso Buco would not make sense, unless it was from Bologna.)
- Ragu with vegetables? That would be a vegetable ragu, not a vegetable Bolognese.
- And a predominately mushroom ragu? It wouldn’t necessarily have anything to do with the Bolognesi (people from Bologna), so we would keep Bologna out of it.
- However, the people in and around Bologna, are famous for what kind of ragu? Ragù alla Bolognese. And for good reason!
