Angela Hartnett has raised eyebrows by claiming the British public could be getting spaghetti bolognese all wrong. Speaking on her co-hosted Waitrose & Partners podcast, Dish, with ex-Radio 1 star Nick Grimshaw, she advised Capital FM’s Jordan North on the pitfalls of ordering spag bol in a restaurant.
Despite the popularity of the dish, sometimes known as spag bol—a term of endearment for spaghetti bolognese—Angela, aged 56, suggested to 34 year old Jordan that it’s not about the dish itself, but rather the way it’s named. Many establishments, from Italy to the UK, don’t use the term ‘spaghetti bolognese’, but refer to the pasta type instead.
She notes, “Well, I’ve got my own issues on a different level because traditionally, and I think William [Hanson] would back me up hopefully, it’s never spag bol in Italy, it’s always tagliatelle or pappardelle or fettuccine.”
Angela continues to mull over the British twist on the dish, saying, “We have you know, anglicised it by using spaghetti. I would never, we would never have spaghetti bolognese on the menu, we would have tagliatelle bolognese or fettuccine.”
The cuisine authority’s opinion carries weight within the culinary community, especially since she helms a Michelin-starred establishment. Angela has often used her platform on the podcast to vent on certain food peeves, much to the astonishment of her audience, reports the Express.
Last year, she shared a conversation with Nick and guest Stanley Tucci, stating: “Cream in carbonara is one.”
Angela then recounted a shocking pasta-related incident from her college days involving pre-grated parmesan cheese. She said: “I remember when I was at college, someone having pre-grated parmesan in one of those plastic tubs and I was like such a snob. I was like ‘oh my God. And then people pre-cook pasta and refresh it in cold water.”
Angela isn’t the only culinary expert to weigh in on the dos and don’ts of cooking pasta. Last year, an expert told the Sunday Times that reheating cooled pasta could aid weight loss.
Diet guru Giulia Crouch informed the publication: “One of my favourite meals is leftover pasta, which I reheat in a pan with oil until some of it goes deliciously crispy. It turns out that as well as being even tastier than the original dish, it’s also better for you.
“Cooking and then cooling pasta changes its structure, turning it into ‘resistant starch’, which acts like fibre in the body according to a 2020 study. This feeds the good bacteria in our gut. When you reheat the cooled pasta, it becomes even more rich in resistant starch.”