Spinach fettuccine with duck ragout

When Tony and Carlos were doing their work — mainly allowing the fish to play with someone’s dangling feet — their mama was always in the kitchen. If Mafia books were a part of your growing up days — as they were mine — you’d know that Mama would be busy with a cauldron full of tomato sauce. The kitchen was steamy, Mama’s cheeks were round and red, and the smell of garlic was all around in the air. Once you read that, you were hooked on to tomato sauces for ever.

Even now, when I have to decide on what kind of sauce should go with my pasta, I am invariably drawn to the tomato sauce. I love the colour and the aroma, and what it does to the pasta on my plate. I suppose it was this fondness for tomato sauce that prompted me to ask Vikram Ganpule, the executive chef at the Hyatt in Calcutta, to tell us something about Italian sauces.

After all, it’s the sauce that makes your pasta in most Italian dishes. And chef Ganpule, who has been working on sauces for a while, tells us the way to cook it just right. Use the right ingredients and follow the method, he says. But what’s important is that you must stir the sauce well as it simmers on the stove. That’s to ensure it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. If it’s even a little scorched, chances are that you’ll get a mildly bitter taste in your sauce.

Saffron pappardelle with asparagus and truffle cream

Then, he advises us to store the sauces well. Refrigerate in a sealed glass bottle so that the sauce doesn’t lose its aroma. Some sauces, he points out, are best eaten a day after it’s cooked. The Bolognese, for instance, tends to mature and taste better after a day or two. But something like pesto obviously has to be freshly prepared and served.

I like what the chef has been doing with his sauces. To the pesto, for instance, he adds a bunch of rocket leaves along with basil. The rocket has a peppery taste, which gives a punch to the otherwise bland pasta, he points out. With a saffron flavoured pappardelle pasta — which is a kind of a broad fettuccine — he does a special sauce with asparagus, leek, thyme, garlic, Parmesan and cream — topped with a bit of truffle oil.

While most restaurants give us a choice of pastas with all kinds of sauces, sometimes it works out when you pair your sauce with the right pasta.

Tubular pastas, for instance, go well with a chunky sauce which seeps well into the pasta. Pesto, on the other hand, works better with something like fusilli because it wraps itself around the pasta. For fettuccine, he suggests a duck ragout, cooked with duck mince, carrots, onions, leeks and celery, deglazed with red wine, simmered with tomatoes and flavoured with rosemary.

Spaghetti, of course, goes best with tomato sauce. Some people like to prepare their sauce in five minutes, using very ripe tomatoes. Others — like chef Ganpule — would rather simmer their tomato for 30 or 40 minutes, or even longer, to enhance the flavours.

My Italian guru Antonio Carluccio states in one of his much loved books that there are four kinds of sauces. Tomato sauce is best served with spaghetti; pepper sauce pairs well with chicken, pigeon and game; walnut sauce goes with pansotti, or pasta stuffed with greens; and green sauce that complements bread or boiled meat. The green sauce consists of anchovies, capers, garlic, parsley and basil, while the walnut sauce has blanched walnuts, pine nuts, garlic, thyme leaves, marjoram, yoghurt and extra virgin oil.

But an innovative chef clearly likes to go beyond the written word. Chef Ganpule, who has been with the Hyatt group since 2002 but started his career with ITC, believes in giving some interesting twists to his sauces, as he does with the pesto. Learn the basics, I suggest — and then the world of sauces is at your feet.        

Linguine with rocket pesto (serves 2)

Ingredients:
• 110g linguine For rocket pesto: • 40g fresh rocket • 30g fresh basil • 70ml olive oil • 30g grated Parmesan cheese • 30g toasted pine nuts • 5g chopped garlic • salt to taste • vegetable stock (as required)

Method:
Refrigerate the rocket and basil leaves for 30 minutes with a wet paper towel on top. Chill the olive oil for 30 minutes. Pour the olive oil in a mixie, add rocket and basil leaves along with pine nuts and garlic and blend but not to a fine puree. Remove into a bowl and fold in the Parmesan with a spoon. Check the seasoning, wrap in cling film and refrigerate. To cook the pasta, put the linguine in boiling salted water for 8-10 minutes. Drain the water. Add some olive oil to the pasta, and keep aside in a tray. To finish, place a stainless steel pan on the stove. Add some vegetable stock to it and simmer. Add the pasta and heat well. Remove and toss the pasta with the pesto. Top with Parmesan and serve.