Ragu, the long-simmered meat sauce Italian mothers and grandmothers traditionally serve for Sunday supper, is often called ``gravy'' by Italian Americans. It's a simple dish, but minor variations can provoke passionate arguments.

Cooks in every region of Italy make their own type of ragu. Bolognese style is made with ground meats, meat broth, tomatoes or tomato paste and a finishing touch of heavy cream or milk. Roman cooks sometimes add chicken giblets, while in parts of northern Italy's Veneto region they make ragu with duck. In many places, dried porcini mushrooms add a woodsy flavor.

No matter the region, the individual ingredients are melded into a rich, intense whole. It's important to keep the sauce at a gentle simmer, never a boil, which would toughen the meat. Low, slow cooking also allows the meat to absorb the flavorful juices of the other ingredients.

Once you've made your ragu, all that's left is to combine it with pasta and top it with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Classical partners include tagliatelle, fettuccine or layers of lasagna noodles, but short pastas like rigatoni and fusilli also do a good job of holding the sauce.

Ragu is only better the second time, so make a big batch. Leftovers keep well in the refrigerator for a few days and can be frozen for a couple of months without loss of quality.

Carole Kotkin is manager of the Ocean Reef Club cooking school and co-author of Mmmmiami: Tempting Tropical Tastes for Home Cooks Everywhere.

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