Thousands of foodies took to social media to debate whether or not sugar should be added to spaghetti bolognese.
The surprisingly divisive discussion was sparked after a woman from Texas shared a picture of spaghetti bolognese topped with a pile of sugar to Facebook and challenged people ‘argue’ whether the ingredient belonged in the recipe.
People were quick to jumped to army veteran Trina Ward’s defense while others could not contain their disgust at her suggestion.
The controversial post, which has gained more than 6,000 comments and 53,000 shares since it was shared earlier this summer, soon made it onto foodie Facebook pages where more keen cooks shared their side of the debate.
Trina Ward shared a picture of her bolognese on Facebook and the post went viral as people rallied in support of her use of sugar or expressed their disgust
Several Facebook users acknowledged the use of sugar in the recipe, including Amber Natè Howell who replied: ‘A dash in the sauce only to cut the acidity of the tomato.’
While others agreed the sweet substance should be added, they expressed horror at just how much sugar was pictured on Ms Ward’s meal.
Emma Nicole Vacca said: ‘Only a pinch to take the acidity away. That much is grim.’
Echoing her sentiment, Steve Pittarese said: ”First of all what kind of f****** pasta sauce is that? Anybody using jarred sauce could f*** all the way off.
‘Secondly anybody that knows how to make sauce will tell you YES you can use a PINCH of sugar in the SAUCE ALONE while cooking it to cut the acidity but this is all kinds of different levels of gross and wrong.
The reaction to Ms Ward’s post was mixed, with some people acknowledging sugar can be used to cut the acidity
‘You might as well replace the sauce with ketchup because that’s what you’re making with all that sugar.
‘As an Italian from Brooklyn this offends me and hurts my insides.’
Similar to those who commented on Ms Ward’s original post, Italian Sara Groscot said people from her country put some sugar in their bolognese to ‘offset the acid from the tomatoes’.
Others agreed with Ms Groscot, such as Francis Rodriguez who said the recipe only needs a teaspoon sugar to ‘take off the acid f the tomato’.
Some people comically drew comparisons between the image and popular Christmas character Buddy the Elf, who pours a bottle of maple syrup over a bowl of spaghetti – much to his new found family’s bewilderment.
In the foodie Facebook groups, people drew comparisons between Ms Ward’s meal and that of much loved Christmas film character Buddy the Elf who pours maple syrup on spaghetti
A few others suggested Ms Ward’s recipe may be more similar to Filipino spaghetti which is sweet in taste.
Frankie Empeno said: ‘As a Filipino, I can assure that this is a thing in the Philippines and in Filipino families.’
Typically the recipe diverts from the usual bolognese and features diced hot dogs and sugar or evaporated milk.
Professional chefs agree with Ms Ward’s claim that sugar should be added to tomato-based pasta sauces, however at most, recipes that call for the sweet substance to be added suggest a teaspoon or two at most.
Famed chef Wolfgang Puck includes sugar in his own bolognese recipe, but notes that you only really need a single teaspoon – and that this is optional.
‘To heighten the tomato flavor, stir in the sugar, if desired,’ he advises.
Source: Food Recipes and News
