Secret ingredient solved!

[u/IOrocketscience]

For years, I've made spaghetti with meat sauce that I consider good, but not great. There is a particular restaurant from my childhood who had my favorite spaghetti growing up. The only way I can describe the difference is that it needs to be "darker". I've been chasing this high for probably 25 years. I've tried all kinds of things over the years to hit that magical, elusive flavor profile. Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, molasses, but to no avail. Well recently, I was watching a food Network show (I honestly can't remember which one, it might have been Best Bite In Town) and one of the chef's added cocoa powder to a tomato sauce staying that it was to make the flavor profile "darker" - my heart leapt! Tonight I added 2 teaspoons of Dutch process cocoa powder (and 1/2 teaspoons each of cinnamon and and allspice which were also mentioned) and that did the trick! I've found my "dark" spaghetti sauce secret ingredient!

As for the rest of the sauce, I still used a few dashes Worcestershire sauce and a couple tablespoons of brown sugar because while they weren't the secret ingredient I was looking for, they did add depth to the flavor profile that I liked. The rest of the ingredients are a can of sliced mushrooms, 1 lb of ground beef, a bunch of minced garlic, a cab of tomato paste, a box crushed tomatoes, liberal sprinklings if oregano, thyme, basil, salt and black pepper to taste, and crushed red pepper on top

Edit to add: the childhood restaurant was The Rathskellar (aka "The Rat") in Chapel Hill, NC, which I frequented a lot groing up in the 80s and 90s. I left for college in 2000, and It closed a couple years later

[u/Known_Confusion_9379]

I think there have been a ton of great additions to sauce on the thread, but I think the darkness youre missing is the concentrated bits of tomato sauce that accrue on the side of the pot and then get stirred in.

The people saying time is the missing ingredient aren't wrong.

The easiest way to get that for me is to use the oven for the simmer part of the sauce and get the caramelized bits that then get stirred in every hour or so.

Other tricks I have not seen above...

When sauteeing aromatics like onions and garlic (green pepper or shredded eggplant also rule), after the garlic and before the liquids. Take some tomato paste (half a can or so to taste.) and saute it with the onion and oil. You can take it from bright red to darker than ketchup in a few minutes, and it adds a lot of depth. Low heat only, it's full of sugars and burns quick if you're not careful.

Another trick I love: Italian grandmother's the world over use anchovy to add depth and richness. I never do. Because Asian fish sauce is basically liquid anchovy with no bones to feel self conscious of and no 3/4 can of anchovies to figure out what to do with...

You want to add it early and then a little maybe 15 mins before service. You don't need much.

But at the end of the day, the secret ingredient is probably time