As I’m currently cooking one of the best pots of Belgian-style spaghetti sauce in my life, I need to write this quick love declaration. I know fully well it isn’t authentically Italian, but it’s a beautiful token of the cultural mixing pot that is Belgium. Invented and tweaked by Italian immigrants – who were the first big wave of guest laborers into Belgium, coming to work in the mines in the east – it’s a staple of any Belgian café, brasserie and restaurant. The major difference is of course that this bolognese is served with spaghetti and not tagliatelle or other thick pastas like papardelle. The base is largely the same inasmuch that it uses a sofrito (sp?) of onion, celery and carrot (no garlic!) but it typically adds more vegetables and doesn’t use white wine to deglaze or milk for texture and added creaminess. I’m kinda doing a hybrid. Of course it is served with grated gruyère cheese and not parmesan, but for tonight’s batch I’ll eat it with parmesan instead 😎 this gives me so much nostalgia. What needs to be in your Belgian spaghetti?
by Ok_Presence36
9 comments
Please crack your bay leaves when using them in sauces!
As a Belgian I’m not ashamed to declare Spaghetti Bolognaise my number one favorite dish, I eat it at least once a week. It might have Italian roots but we made it our own and I choose it over frites. I’m tired of the potato centered diet anyway, so noodles and rice are a big hit with me too.
I love putting Worcestershire sauce in it
please, send me your recipe
I beg you
Have you discovered the joy of frit bolognaise yet? *hint hint*
At the moment, I primarily make my sauce with an Italian recipe but my mom’s recipe used to not include celeri but featured mushrooms instead. Not sure for other differences.
As far as cheese goes, I’m firmly on the parmesan side though (or rather imitation parmesan because true parmesan is expensive).
Carrots in a tomato spaghetti sauce is an abomination. They just do not belong in there, You are not making soup.
Welke kruiden gebruiken jullie, ik doe meestal peper, zout, italianse kruiden mix, paparikapoeder, tabasco, shiliflakes, uienpoeder, knoflookpoeder, nootmuskaat, en 2 laurierblaadjes
But does it beat carbonade flamande?