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Neapolitan ragù is a ragù associated with Naples, Italy, made by browning then braising meat over several hours in tomato purée and sauce. The meat is then removed and the sauce is left to continue cooking and thickening. The dish is served in two stages: first as sauce served over pasta, then as meat eaten alone or with vegetables, lightly dressed with the remaining sauce. The people of Naples hold their version in high regard, calling it rraù. Writers from the area describe it as the "queen of sauces". Although it contains tomato and meat, it is perceived to be a meat sauce, with the tomato as a conduit for meat flavours. Neapolitan ragù evolved from the French ragoût, introduced to Italy in the late 17th century. Ingredients foreign to the modern ragù, such as asparagus and truffle, were dropped while tomatoes and pasta were added. In the 19th century, emigrants brought the dish to America, where it was developed into the Italian-American gravy and the dish spaghetti and meatballs. (Full article...)

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In the news

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The Progressive Bulgaria party, led by former president Rumen Radev (pictured), wins a majority of the National Assembly in the parliamentary elections, in a bid to end the ongoing Bulgarian political crisis.
In Ukraine, seven people are killed and fourteen others are injured in a mass shooting at a Kyiv supermarket.
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On this day

April 26

Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant

1803 – Thousands of meteor fragments fell over L'Aigle, France, becoming a milestone in the understanding of meteorites.
1941 – Boris Kidrič and Edvard Kardelj founded the Liberation Front of the Slovene Nation, the main anti-fascist Slovene civil-resistance and political organization during World War II.
1986 – The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (pictured) near Chernobyl, Ukrainian SSR, suffered a steam explosion, resulting in a fire, a nuclear meltdown, and the evacuation and resettlement of over 336,000 people around Europe.
2017 – The Shandong was launched for the People's Liberation Army Navy, China's first domestically built aircraft carrier.

Ma Rainey (b. 1886)
Margaret Gowing (b. 1921)
Arnold Sommerfeld (d. 1951)
Thiago Almada (b. 2001)

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Marcus Aurelius (26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoic philosopher. He was a member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty, the last of the rulers later known as the Five Good Emperors and the last emperor of the Pax Romana, an age of relative peace, calm, and stability for the Roman Empire lasting from 27 BC to 180 AD. He served as Roman consul in 140, 145, and 161. This bust depicting Aurelius was found in the Roman villa of Chiragan and is in the collection of the Musée Saint-Raymond.

Bust credit: unknown; photographed by Daniel Martin

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