FoodBanter.com - View Single Post - Ragu sauce - 30 mins or 3-5 hours cooking time? Which is best?

(George Bray) wrote in
om:

> On 2002-03-11 09:52:44 PST , wrote about Ragu
> (Bolognese sauce):
>
>>"...cook, uncovered, at the merest simmer for a long, long time; not
> less than >3 hours is necessary, more is better."
>
> I've read about very long cooking times in various other recipes from
> leading authors but how is it justified? By any normal standards,
> won't all the main ingredients be way-overcooked, so all you're really
> left with is a good stock sauce? But even if you're making beef stock,
> the recipes would seldom suggest you simmer the stock for that long.
>
> I have tested 3-5 hour cooking times and I don't doubt that the
> results are quite good, as is a 30 minute simmer actually, in my
> opinion.
>
> How do the long cooking times work?
>
> Regards
> George
>

While both short and long cooking sauces may be good to eat, quickly
cooking a ragu or bolognese sauce will never yield the expected texture
or flavor.

Wayne