The Tradition Of Italian Pesto

2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29

The fragrant basil sauce from Genoa, Liguria or pesto genovese is popular all over the world. The ancestor of pesto is considered to be the pasta moretum, which was prepared by the ancient Romans. When basil is distributed in Italy, the recipe is changed. The modern pesto recipe was first mentioned in Giovanni Battista Rato's book La Cuciniera Genovese.

The main ingredient for the classic pesto sauce is the broad-leaved basil, which the Italians call basilico. All kinds of herbs and spices are widely used in Italian cuisine, but the attitude towards basil is different. In the Liguria region you can find pesto everywhere - the sauce is present in people's homes, in pizzerias or fine restaurants, in shops, pubs.

Besides basil, another mandatory ingredient in pesto is garlic. Cedar nuts, olive oil, pecorino and parmesan should be added to them for a richer and richer aroma. Some recipes claim that the pesto is made without Parmesan cheese - grana padano is added in its place. The secret of a successful sauce is in the proportions of all these products.

It is difficult to say which of all the recipes offered for pesto genovese is the original. There is no unanimity on the question of what is the best recipe for pesto - probably every family in Genoa has its own position on the matter. Usually the debate over the pesto recipe is not in the products, but in the proportions - after all, with so many different recipes, everyone can find the one they like best.

The sauce with traditions is called pesto because it is prepared in the most common marble mortar - with a wooden mallet or pestello. Again, according to the traditional pesto recipe, basil should not come into contact with metal, because its leaves will darken. Last but not least, crush the leaves slowly, advise the Italians, because this will release all the aromas that are in basil.

If we continue to prepare it according to the dictates of tradition, we must not expose olive oil to air currents, because its taste will be lost. In other words, the use of a blender is not recommended, as it is most often prepared nowadays.

It is very important when cooking it in a mortar not to knock the spices, but to grind them and press them to its sides with a rotating motion. First grind the basil leaves, then add the garlic and nuts. After you crush them well, it's time for the pecorino and parmesan and finally add extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of salt.

If the mortar is not your favorite appliance after all and you have decided to use a blender, make the pesto in the same sequence. Pesto is stored in a closed jar in the refrigerator - it can stay there for a week.

In the Ligurian region, pesto is prepared by eye, but of course, as they say, it is in their blood to hit the perfect proportions. If you want to serve pesto in pure Italian, you have to prepare pasta. In some places in the region, basil sauce is added to flavor various dishes. Pesto is a universal sauce.

Today you can find a variety of its variants - with tomatoes, with wild garlic, with celery, with cream, with anchovies, with nuts, etc. But whatever pesto you buy from the store, nothing can compare to what is prepared in the original way with a small marble mortar and boxwood hammer.