Italian sauces are simple and to the point. There are two basic white sauces throughout Italian cookery: balsamella, related to the French béchamel, for which a light roux (a combination of flour and a fat, often butter) is liquefied with hot milk; and salsa bianca, which uses stock in place of milk. Everyone can make a basic tomato sauce and a ragu with meat or mushrooms. (Bologna is particularly famous for her meaty ragus which never top spaghetti.) There are many other sauces: green sauces built from herbs, such as basil for pesto; oil and egg maionese; nut sauces made from walnuts, pine nuts, or almonds; bread crumb sauces; giblet sauces; to mention only a few. Unlike French sauces, however, Italian sauces are rarely in danger of breaking. All sauce preparation calls upon the measurement, technique, and all-around philosophy of life known as quanto basto -- "the right amount." The philospher-cook must always know and use precisely quanto basto.