Understanding Pasta Sauces

While the term "ragu" is often thought of as synonymous with Bolognese, the latter is actually a type of ragu. Ragu is an umbrella term for a thick, chunky sauce often—though not always (think mushroom ragu)—containing meat or tomatoes.

Bolognese is a long-cooked meat sauce that hails from the city of Bologna in the northern region of Emilia-Romagna—a region known for its meat and cheeses. Unlike other meat sauces in which tomatoes dominate, Bolognese sauce is about the meat, with the tomatoes in a supporting role. Bolognese also differs from other tomato-based meat sauces in that it contains dairy, usually butter, milk, and/or cream. Traditional recipes begin with ground beef and add a mix of other meats that can include ground veal, pork, salumi, and chicken livers.

Just as a ragu is a chunky sauce, sugo is the term used for a fluid sauce. It can be a marinara or a simple pureed tomato sauce, but while the ragu is thick and full of chunks of meat or vegetables, sugo tends to be smooth and loose. Many Italian-Americans refer to sugo as gravy.