Trying a slow cooked recipe today. I saw it on Better Homes and Gardens, Fast Ed section. I don't know why I never thought of this before. He made a traditional bolognaise sauce in a slow cooker. I love this sauce, but only when its cooked the old way, hours and hours of cooking. I had this in a little restaurant in Roma, I think there were 3 or 4 tables in the whole restaurant, and I asked the waiter what herbs they used in the sauce. He bought out his Nonna .. this old Italian woman who grinned at me as he asked her again what she put in her sauce. She spoke no English and I certainly did not speak Italian. But with her hands and face she conveyed to me, with a great deal of pride and love, how she makes it. I picked up basilico , carota, ragazza .. and by her gestures she told me about a long time cooking. I got very excited talking to this lovely woman, the language of food bridging our differences. I asked about pesto and how she made tiramasu.
So, as I have to go to work today, and can't be in my beloved kitchen all day, I have put all the ingredients onto low in my slow cooker and tonight when I get home, I can judge the outcome.
I don't know why, but leaving the food to do its thing in an electric cooker just seems to lose its magic for me. It becomes a perfunctory necessity to eat, not an experience to savor.
Verdict tonight.
Home, and after 9 hours cooking .. the taste test.
Well, it sure smelt good when we got home, but the flavour was not as good as when I cook this in my heavy Staub pot. Husband and son agreed. But having said that, it sure was nice to have dinner cooked barr a pot of boiled water with pasta tipped in.
7/10
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