My friends in Genoa would probably disown me if I told them I’ve had it with Pesto, understandably. Pesto is the pride of the Italian region of Liguria and Genoa its capital. Ligurians are dead serious about this sauce, its terroir-driven ingredients and its protection. Genovese basil, the principal ingredient in Pesto has D.O.P. (Protected Designation of Origin) status. The designation guarantees that pesto is produced, processed and packaged in a specific geographical zone and according to tradition. Its ingredients have been codified under the rules of a Consortium established in 2008 and are guaranteed by the EU. As of 2015 Pesto alla Genovese has been up for recognition as a UNESCO “Cultural Heritage,” an honor it would share with Pizza alla Napoletana. From greater Italy and all over the world, competitors gather every two years in Genoa at the Pesto World Championship now in its 9th season.
Pesto is touted by some to be the most renowned Italian sauce in the world. One local measure is Costco Wholesale, frustratingly known for the in and outs on its shelves. Due to high demand, Costco keeps pesto in constant rotation. Outside of its prototypical use as the sauce for Trenette, a flat, stranded pasta considered its perfect partner in Liguria, pesto has been co-opted as a fusion ingredient in nearly every food group: Pesto on pizza, in soup and salad dressings, layered in sandwiches and wraps, as a flavoring for dip and bread and pretzels, stuffed in a chicken or slathered on salmon, in “Buddha bowls” and even enchiladas! To a bred-in-the-bone Genovese, this is no doubt a sacrilege. But it is inevitable that sauces that cross their traditional boundaries are fair game for any application.
As a chef, I keep one foot planted in tradition and the other on the ground of my creative impulse. If a traditional food goes stale or is worn out by overuse, my inclination is to rediscover it or spin it off in a different direction. It’s interesting that the contenders of the Pesto World Championship are all given the same 7 ingredients to work with and are left to quantify and physically manipulate them to their own taste. According to Roberto Panizza, “King of Pesto” and originator of the World Championship, there is no fixed recipe for Pesto and no two versions are alike—fixed structure, endless variation, something like a sonnet. A Genovese culinary almanac is quoted as saying “To make a good pesto you have to be born that way as you are born a poet”. Pesto is ripe with possibility!
Before I take license here’s a bow to the tradition and its evolution. As food historians have it, the origins of Pesto are ancient and based on Roman “Agliata,” a pungent sauce of crushed garlic, vinegar-doused breadcrumbs, salt and olive oil. Provençal aïoli, sometimes thickened with breadcrumbs or potato, is its kissing cousin. Basil introduced from India along the spice route and nuts from the coastal Stone Pines were eventually added. Parmigiano Reggiano or Grana Padano, considered to belong to all of Italy and well established on the Italian table centuries before also naturally joined the mix. Fiore Sardo, the rare sheep’s milk cheese from Sardegna, is the only curious interloper. Its presence in pesto is explained by regular maritime trade with the hub port of Genoa.
The first mention of pesto (“Battuto alla Genovese”) meaning ‘beaten,’ indicating the use of the mortar and pestle, appeared relatively late in the mid-19th century. The first published recipe found in “La Cucineria Genovese” included basil, marjoram, parsley, Gouda cheese from Holland, Parmesan cheese, pine nuts and butter. Today, the ingredients in Pesto alla Genovese are largely local to Liguria. As dictated by the Pesto World Championship authentic pesto in its most evolved form includes Genovese Basil D.O.P., Italian pine nuts, Parmigiano, Fiore Sardo, “Vessalico” (a small town in Liguria) garlic, coarse sea salt, and extra virgin olive oil from the Ligurian Riviera. The ingredients listed by the Consortium are a little more generalized to permit for commerce outside the delimited zone.
I follow rules of my own for pesto made from any fresh herb or herb combination:
Pesto is from “pestare” (to beat or pound) and synonymous with the means of making it. For the truest flavor and most agreeable texture, do make it in a mortar and pestle, not a blender.
Forget about trying to keep it green. Don’t blanch the leaves of basil or other herbs or add lemon juice or Vitamin C powder to prevent discoloration. Blanching diminishes flavor and aroma. Acidic additions make it weirdly tart.
Make Pesto when herbs are in full season when the plant is leafing out but not flowering.
Don’t heat it. Apply it fresh.
Make only enough to eat right away.
Additionally, the specific qualities of the ingredients of Pesto alla Genovese can inform any novel version. Genovese Basil D.O.P. is cultivated in glass houses. The plant is not grown for the purpose of “ cut and come again” and is entirely uprooted. As such, its controlled growth and the youthful tenderness of the plant is responsible for its pale, mossy green color. Its much-revered delicacy and “sweetness” evades the bitterness of the leaves of more mature plants. Garlic grown in Vessalico is an ancient variety chosen for its intense flavor and moderate heat. It’s ideal for the subtle support it lends in the aftertaste. Pinenuts offer a unique resiny note. If Parmigiano is the equalizer, Fiore Sardo is the punctuator. Olive oil from the Ligurian coast stone-milled from buttery Taggiasca olives adds finesse and unifies the whole.
So…
Choose the young, tender herbs you grow or find in the market.
Choose garlic that is firm with a tight skin, evidence that it is cured but recently harvested.
Use nuts with skins removed (almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts) and aged grating cheese that has some moisture left, flavorful but not too sharp.
Rounder, softer extra virgin olive oil from ripe olives is preferable to piquant green oil.
Use a stone or tempered ceramic mortar with a wooden pestle to avoid stone on stone and rock dust in your pesto.
It is not surprising that the values of balance and proportion expressed everywhere in Italian art, fashion and culture should carry through to Pesto alla Genovese. Even if you haven’t actually tasted the signature Ligurian version, its description betrays confident elegance. Unfortunately, it is badly imitated in America and this is my quarrel. Hack versions are compromised by the quality of the ingredients and their ratios—mature basil leaves that dimly mask their bitterness, the aggressive use of garlic often sporting the taint of oxidation, characterless oil and overly sharp cheese. It all tends to wear on you hours later like cheap perfume.
I routinely turn to my garden for direct inspiration. I believe it’s best not to try to find your ingredients but to let them find you. The pesto I made below was not based on forethought or formula but because they were vividly in front of my nose. Use what you have or what appeals most in the market. Excitement about what you notice is the best impetus and is inevitably reflected in the pleasure of the result.
At the moment, among the herbs in my garden there is parsley, Greek oregano, spearmint, common mint (yerba buena), coriander leaves and coriander seeds, dill, wild fennel, purslane and the Genovese cultivar of basil I seeded in the Spring. All are pushing out young growth and are ready to pick. It’s likely that dill and oregano, as assertive as they are, would be hard to balance in a hybrid pesto. And Purslane’s flavor is too subtle to add anything meaningful. So I settle on parsley, basil, coriander and mint and pound in a little wild fennel flower for a twist. Instead of pinenuts, I opt for blanched almonds (toasted to wake up their aroma) and rely upon anchovies for salt and the savor they add in the background. I recently harvested my garlic crop which has since been curing in my cellar. At the cheese counter, I picked up a raw sheep milk Manchego that is dry but creamy and moderately sharp.
Discovering the right proportions is all about testing the character and strength of the individual ingredients and then ordering the additions so that you don’t end up adding too much of something you can’t take out. It’s a good idea on the first trial to work each ingredient separately in the mortar and pestle and then to blend them incrementally. This may seem tedious but think of the process as a way of giving yourself a lesson in how to cook, in this case, in how to proportion disparate ingredients. This is the fun of it and the way to transmute dumb ingredients into something that expresses your culinary “voice.” Before blending, evaluate the taste of each element and then let the trial and error process unfold. Consider that an herb pesto is principally about the flavors and perfumes of the herbs. The other ingredients are there as a supporting cast. Start with the pounded herbs and add enough olive oil to liberally moisten them so as to unleash their flavor and suspend them so that you can taste them clearly. Next, add the cheese and nuts and more olive oil if necessary to keep the mixture somewhat loose. Then season this mix with the powerhouse ingredients, in this example garlic, anchovy and wild fennel. Be conservative with these additions with a view to balancing the whole. Trust your senses. Integrate what you taste with what you do.
The final consistency should be compact but fluid enough to tip off a spoon. Let your pesto stand for several hours for the flavors to mingle then take notice.
You may hit the mark the first time or you may decide to add or subtract an ingredient for better balance. You might think to work the mortar less or more for better texture or to adjust the ratios for a more harmonious result. Cooking always allows you another chance. Take heart in remembering that repetition will make you a better cook.
Such a colorful story, nice thought for the sardines for salt. Where do sardines originate in the Italian cuisine?
I appreciate the suggestion to first work the herbs one by one with the mortar and pestle, then blend them. My inclination is to save time by pounding everything together. As ever, the message for me with preparing my best food is to slow down.
I will share all of this info with the other pesto fanatics in my life!