Featured Article Summary #113

Neapolitan ragù is a traditional meat sauce from Naples made by browning and then slowly braising meat for several hours in tomato purée and sauce. Once the meat is cooked, it is taken out while the sauce continues to cook and thicken. In the Italian meal tradition, it is served in two parts: first as sauce on pasta, and then as the meat eaten alone or with vegetables, lightly coated with some remaining sauce. It is a rich ragù that Naples considers especially important, and it’s sometimes described as the “queen of sauces.” The recipe developed from the French ragoût, later changing over about 150 years as different ingredients were removed and tomatoes and pasta became central. Compared with ragù alla bolognese, it typically cooks longer, uses more tomatoes, includes less celery and carrot, uses whole meat pieces, and is paired with short ridged pasta. Ragùs are meat-rich sauces eaten with pasta across Italy, and Neapolitan ragù traces back to the French ragoût. By the late 1600s it had reached Naples as raù, with early recipes that used unusual ingredients, and later writers began combining ragù with pasta in the same dish, gradually shaping what became a Neapolitan-style sauce. In the 1800s, recipes shifted—sometimes using tomatoes, and changing wording from “sugo di carne” to “ragù”—but it stayed expensive, so it became a holiday and Sunday-lunch tradition. Over time, tomato versions became standard while tomato-free versions persisted in Genovese sauce, creating a clearer split between the styles. A popular Naples legend says that in the late 1300s a group called the Company of the Whites of Justice visited people to pray for peace and reconciliation. At Palazzo Filippo d’Angiò, where a cruel lord held onto anger, his infant son Raù miraculously called for “mercy and peace,” and the lord’s wife cooked pasta that turned red like blood. After tasting the sauce, the lord forgave his enemies, and the wife made it again—this time fragrant and delicious—leading the lord to name it after Raù. In Naples, ragù is treated mainly as a meat sauce, with tomato used mainly to carry and enhance the meat flavours. The type of meat varies by area and availability, with long-cooking cuts like beef shoulder, beef shin, and pork short ribs common, while older and poorer recipes often relied on cheaper offcuts and sausages; over time, pork became more popular, recipes turned less fatty, and braciola and pork skin (cotica) grew in use. Tomato is used as purée and paste, and Neapolitan ragù often includes whole meat, more tomato than the Bologna style, and aromatics such as onion (and in Benevento, garlic too), plus ingredients like red wine, basil, and cinnamon. Neapolitan ragù is made by browning meat, then slowly cooking it in tomato purée and paste while stirring to stop it burning. When the meat is taken out, the sauce is left to reduce and thicken, with the long cooking time creating its signature flavour. Traditionally it’s been cooked “all day” in tough conditions, though modern cooks often use shorter methods and wait for the sauce to change colour and thicken. People in Naples also have strong beliefs about the best equipment and techniques, and families often keep their recipes secret; it’s typically served on Sunday lunch, sometimes even leading to heated debates about what counts as the most traditional ragù.