My friend Chris sent me this great email:

Are you interested in learning about your Ancestors’ life?
Here is a short story about our city of Naples. We hope you will enjoy reading it.

Proverb in dialect: Vide Napule e po’ muore (Vedi Napoli e poi muori)
See Naples and then die

There are legends that tell the story of the city of Naples and many others who tell a story of the origin of almost everything else. Even the Neapolitan meat sauce called Ragu’ or RRau’ (dialect) has one: It was the end of the 1300s in Naples and the Compagnia dei Bianchi (Brotherhood of the Whites – established for the purpose of helping the poor against tyranny and starvation) used to walk around the city preaching “Peace and Forgiveness”.

At that time the “Palace of the Emperor” (the building is still standing on Via Tribunali and was home to Charles, Emperor of Constantinople and of Maria Di Valois daughter of King Carlo D’Angio’) was inhabited by an aristocrat, unkind and merciless to many. If the preaching of the Brotherhood convinced almost all the population to make peace with their enemies, only the man living in the “Palace of the Emperor” bearing ancient and vicious grudges refused to follow the preaching. Not even his 3-month old son was able to convince him after he miraculously spoke three times the words: Peace and Forgiveness”. The aristocrat continued to be blinded by anger and revenge until one day his wife tried to soften him by cooking some pasta, maccheroni. The Holy Providence filled the dish with a sauce full of blood. It was then that the stubborn man finally decided to make peace with his enemies and become part of the Brotherhood. His wife reacted to this miraculous behavior by cooking the pasta, which magically turned red again. That mysterious sauce was so good and tasty that he decided to call it “Rau‘” like his son.

The Recipe of Napolitano Ragu’:

This traditional tomato and meat sauce takes a long time to prepare, needing between 3 and 5 hours of very gentle cooking. If you are using a piece of leg, tie the meat into a roll. Use a terracotta casserole if available. Place the diced bacon fat and lard in the casserole, heat and when it starts melting place the meat inside. Cover with water and cook at moderate heat covered with a lid. When all the water has evaporated, pour a glass of good red wine on and let it evaporate on low heat. Turn the meat occasionally so that it does not stick to the bottom of the pan, adding the extra wine. When it has all evaporated add the tomato sauce and cook for another half hour. Add 2 glasses of water and cook on low heat with the lid on until the sauce is thick and dark. Remove the meat, which can be used apart. If it has broken up completely as in the case of spare ribs, use it as the sauce for spaghetti.

Ingredients
50 g bacon fat, diced
3 tbsp lard
500 g veal or pork leg or spare ribs
2 glasses good red wine
500 g tomato sauce
Salt