I need help

[Guy_Montag]

I was in the supermarket the other day, trying to decide whether to buy sun-dried tomatoes or roasted artichoke hearts, when I overheard a couple discussing whether one should make spaghetti bolognese with ketchup (catsup??). It was all I could do to stop sniggering outloud.

I think I'm becomming a cultural fascist!

What should I do?

[radwriter0555]

1. Honey I yelled at my boyfriend for having powdered parmesan cheese

in his fridge... I couldn't understand how HE, a FRENCHMAN, could have ever bought such a thing!!!!

[GOPisEvil]

2. Oh my...

...you have a right to be offended. Catsup?!?!?! That's just a crime against humanity.

Those people need to know how easy a bolognese is, even with the proper ingredients. Catusp indeed! Then again, they're sentenced to eat the crap they cook, so maybe the punishment is built-in.

[Fenris]

3. I feel similarly about people who make spaghetti sauce w/o tomato paste

It's always interesting when I dine at someone's residence and they serve me spaghetti and tomato-flavored water-based sauce. I always wonder if I should ask if I'm supposed to drink it.

[GOPisEvil]

4. For the record, here's the recipe I use.

It's Mario Batali's.

5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons butter
1 carrot, finely, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 rib celery, finely diced
1 clove garlic, sliced
1 pound veal, ground
1 pound pork, ground
1/4 pound pancetta or slab bacon, ground
1/2 tube tomato paste
1 cup milk
1 cup dry white wine
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Parmigiano-Reggiano, for grating



In a 6 to 8-quart, heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add the onions, celery, and garlic and sweat over medium heat until the vegetables are translucent and soft but not browned, about 10 to 15 minutes. Add the veal, pork, and pancetta and stir into the vegetables. Add the meat over high heat, stirring to keep the meat from sticking together until browned. Add the tomato paste, milk, and wine and simmer over medium-low heat for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and remove from the heat.
When ready to use, the cooked pasta should be added to a saucepan with the appropriate amount of hot ragu Bolognese, and tosses so that the pasta is evenly coated by the ragu.

[Guy_Montag]

5. What makes Kosher salt Kosher? n/t

[GOPisEvil]

6. I dunno.

:shrug:

But, it's really good salt for cooking because it's not iodized. All you taste is the salt.

[johnnie]

8. I always get non-iodized salt

Iodine is terrible for the skin. I'm not worried about goiters these days anyway. You can buy salt in the same brands without the iodine. But, I'm sure you knew that. As for kosher salt, it is larger grains and less "salty".

[Brewman_Jax]

7. You showed restraint

We intellectual snobs and cultural elitists just laugh at the "wanna-bes."

A cultural fascist would have hit them in the head with a tomato and then screamed, "you're too stupid to do anything that requires thinking!" and grabbed them and walked them to the spaghetti sauce aisle.

You did just fine.