spaghetti bolognese

i achieved my nirvana or shang ri la of bolognese today. it was perfect, i could taste the sourness of the tomato puree' and the delicate flavours of the herbs.

most malaysians have eaten spaghetti bolognese, some try to cook it at home by opening the jar of preggo or tearing off the packed instant sauce. some cook from scratch and decide to malaysianise the bolognese sauce by adding chilli.

i remember listening in horror to the tale of a teacher who said that it's easier to cook bolognese sauce out of a maggi packet. what she doesnt know is that the process is almost the same as cooking from scratch. in my opinion, it is better to stretch our patience and time in order to have a good hearty meal. and also, i'm a purist, therefore i try to stick to the basic recipe. i even use olive oil. when cooking bolognese sauce, you need a lot of chopped onions and garlic, celery, tomatoes, carrot and tomato puree'. i prefer beef to chicken, because beef has a hearty taste that the chicken does not have. from experience, i learned that it is better to use minced meat rather than manually mincing the meat on your own. using commercially prepared minced meat (or if you have a grinder, that is even better) ensures your sauce to be thick. i tried to mince the beef but my sauce ended up being runny. anyway, i use thyme, oregano and basil in my sauce, and i put pepper as well. let it cook for at least one hour. i do not try to improvise to suit the malaysian palette because for one thing, this is an italian dish.

hopefully, those who read this will be inspired to try and cook bolognese from scratch.