The Ragù Pilgrimage

Bologna is called La Grassa - The Fat One - and it earned the name. This is the city that gave the world mortadella, tortellini, and most importantly, ragù alla Bolognese. The real thing bears almost no resemblance to what gets sold in jars. There is no garlic. No herbs beyond a bay leaf. No tinned tomatoes dominating everything. Instead: a slow, patient braise of finely minced beef and pork in white wine and whole milk, with just enough tomato to give colour, cooked for a minimum of three hours.

It is served over fresh egg tagliatelle - never spaghetti, as any Bolognese would firmly tell you - and dressed with only Parmigiano-Reggiano. In 1982, the Italian Academy of Cuisine officially registered the recipe with the Bologna Chamber of Commerce to protect it from the world's corruptions. Flying here to eat it is, in a small way, acknowledging that they were right to bother.