The Sunny Kitchen - An Italian cook in Amsterdam:

Heston Seen yesterday evening on the BBC: Heston Blumenthal's version of an Italian classic, the bolognese sauce (il ragù, as it's called in Italy).
My father would define Heston's working methods "Ufficio Complicazione Affari Semplici", literally translated as "Bureau for the Complication of Easy Matters". And with a reason.
As a matter of fact - incredible but true - Heston succeeds in turning one of the most perfect and simple recipes ever - with or without milk, cream or whatever it is that people in the different parts of the Emilia Romagna region use or don't use - in a flavours' nightmare. With an orgy of ingredients like ketchup, sherry vinegar, star anise, tabasco, coriander, tarragon and even NAM FUCKIN' PLA!!! (Thai fish sauce, that is), to say it Gordon Ramsay's style. And with complex working methods that would discourage the most patient of cooks.

The nice thing about bolognese is - except for its divine texture and taste - that this sauce requires a simple preparation and then becomes practically "independent" during the cooking phase. Letting it slowly simmer for at least 2-3 hours on a very low flame after a short preparation (making soffritto - the base of a good bolognese sauce prepared with finely chopped onion, celery and carrot - can be easily done in a couple of seconds with a kitchen robot and then it's just a matter of letting it slowly soften, browning the meat in it and splashing it with wine) is enough. The result: a combination of different - not too many - flavours that complement each other wonderfully.
In the Italian kitchen less is more. In Heston's kitchen this is clearly not the case.

I'd like to try this sauce. I don't doubt that - in a subtly perverse way - it probably tastes quite good but - PLEASE! - don't call it bolognese.

For Heston's bolognese recipe read here.
Foto: www.combichemlab.com

La parmigiana is one of the classic Neapolitan dishes that has become all-round Italian. Everybody in Italy - Northener, "Centerner" or Southener - makes it, and everybody have their own "original" recipe.
The way it is traditionally made is with fried aubergines (eggplants for our American friends) which are wonderful but a little heavy. My version is a bit lighter since it's made with grilled aubergines.
The grilling process enhances the taste, I find, since those nice dark brown stripes you get when preparing the veggies on a grilling plate give the dish some extra zest and make it particularly yummie.

Parmigiana takes time and patience but the result is really rewarding. It's a perfect vegetarian dish that won't have you miss the meat proteins. Most of those who eat it during one of my workshops over the Neapolitan cuisine don't even notice they haven't eaten meat or fish at all!

Prepare the parmigiana at least a couple of hours before eating it: when it "sets" a bit it's much nicer and if it's too hot you won't be able to cut it as nicely as when it's just lukewarm.
Recipe and pictures (made by Per Jansson) come from my very own cookbook "Antipasti" published in the Netherlands by Veltman Uitgevers. Enjoy!

Parmigiana di melanzane

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
3 big aubergines
3 cans peeled tomatoes (400 gr/14.10 oz per can)
olive oil
2 medium-sized onions
fresh basil
3 mozzarellas, each of about 125 gr/0.27 lb
100 gr/0.22 lb Parmesan or Grana Padano cheese, grated
salt
pepper

Prepare a basic tomato sauce by frying the finely chopped onions in a little olive oil until soft and transparent. Add the shredded tomatoes and let the sauce simmer on a low fire long enough to thicken it. Add salt, pepper and fresh basil leaves to taste and remove from the flame.

Cut the aubergines in thin slices (lengthwise), brush them lightly with olive oil and grill them on a hot grilling plate. Make sure they don’t get too brown and dry: they have to be well cooked and yet reasonably soft.

Lay a layer of grilled aubergines inside an oven dish sprinkled with olive oil (or covered with baking parchment). Slice the mozzarella.
Cover the aubergines with tomato sauce, some basil leaves, some mozzarella slices and grated parmesan or grana cheese. Season with salt and pepper.

Make as many layers as you can with all the ingredients that you have at your disposal (the last layer should be tomato sauce and parmesan/grana cheese without extra basil because its leaves would burn easily). Put the oven dish in the pre-heated oven (180° C/392° F) until the parmigiana is golden brown. Serve lukewarm.