Why does my ragu taste sweet?!

Question

Cooking Ox tail ragu for the 2nd time and It is continually coming out sweet.. Ingredients are tomato paste, rosemary, and some red wine.. You cock It with carrot and celery but remove this.. Would the rosemary or carrot make the sauce sweet?

Suzanna G. · Answer

Too much sugar can make anything too sweet.  TASTE your ingredients beforehand and adjust according to taste.

A Whole Foods Market Customer · Answer

What kind of wine are you using?  Maybe it's too sweet. Yes. Carrots are sweet only when cooked, so maybe you use too many carrots?  Not sure as I don't know your recipe.  And red onions are sweeter than yellow, white etc.

cookbookchick · Answer

Onions, too, can taste sweet when cooked. Are you using a lot of onions in the ragu?

ChefJune · Answer

We'd need to see the whole recipe to figure it out. Carrots definitely impart sweetness to tomato sauces. Depending upon what kind of wine you are using, that could add to it (but somehow I don't think so).

tyrannyofcake · Answer

If it's not the wine, it could be the carrot, depending on how much you add. Celery usually balances that out, but not always.

Meaghan F. · Answer

I'll bet it's the wine... What kind are you using?

Why does my ragu taste sweet?!

6 Comments

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