Dees star Christian Petracca cops a hammering online for using one VERY unusual ingredient in his Spaghetti Bolognese recipe

Melbourne Demons star Christian Petracca may have unwitting unleashed the greatest Italian food scandal on the planet since pineapple was added to pizza.

Petracca is a keen cook and shares a range of healthy, nutritious recipes on his Instagram channel OnTrac5.

Some of his recent vlogs have included drunken noodles, tray bake chicken and lemon yoghurt cake.

But it was his recent video of his special Spaghetti Bolognese that raised plenty of eyebrows.

There was the fact that he misspelled Bolognese as ‘Bolagnaise’. There was also the fact that he used fetuccini instead of spaghetti.

Fans agreed with most ingredients used by Petracca which resulted in a good looking final dish, but milk divided his followers

However the one ingredient that shocked the most people was his use of a big glug of milk.

‘Milk? I’ve never ever heard of milk in spag sauce,’ one follower declared

‘Why milk? Nonna has never told me this bit,’ posted another.

‘Milk [shocked emoji] …. That’s not how southern Italians roll! No way the Benevento Nonna does that in her kitchen ,’ posted yet another.

‘Wow milk.. very interesting addition,’ added another.

While for some the addition of milk may seem strange, it is a common practice in many kitchens – including being used by professional chefs.

One follower listed the reasons why the use of milk is essential for a quality bolognese.  

• Adds depth of richness to the sauce
• Helps make the mince more tender
• Cuts through the acidity that little bit more
• Creates a silkier finish to the sauce

‘For those who are a little gobsmacked. It’s traditional. You’ve eaten pasta at restaurants with milk.. just haven’t known it,’ they posted.

However the lines are firmly divided between chefs with some refusing to use milk in their pasta.

‘My nonna didn’t use it and I don’t recall using it at [1-Michelin-starred restaurant in Bologna] Ambrogio,’ Italian-based Bolognese chef Gianluca Gangetti told SBS Food.

However Melbourne resident chef and pasta maker Christian Folletti uses an entire litre of milk for every 600g of meat used.

‘You don’t need to boil it for hours as nowadays, we can afford better cuts of meat, but you definitely need milk,’ he said. 

Australia, swearing celebrity chef Nat – who became famous during the pandemic lockdowns with his recipes on his Nat’s What I Reckon channel – is also an advocate for milk in Bolognese.

‘An ingredient I know looks confusing but it f***ing goes, is milk,’ he says during his End of Days Bolognese video.

‘You don’t have to put milk in it, but trust me, it f***ing works.

‘I know it will f*** with your head but just trust me, put a cup of milk in.’