Pesto and pots of basil
Seeing it at grocery stores and having received a large, leafy bunch from a friend’s garden, I can only surmise that with good summer heat basil is blossoming beautifully in the area.
Whether you shop for it at your favourite store, source it a local market garden stand, or grow it on your apartment balcony or patio, this herb is a true wonder of aroma and flavour – and it’s ripe for pesto treatment in your kitchen.
Pesto tradition
A traditional Genoese preparation, pesto is simply delicious. The word derives from the Italian word for “pounding,” and as such is related to the pestle half of the mortar and pestle, the ancient grinding and mashing tool found in many cultures.
With notes of tarragon, anise and even cloves, there are nearly a dozen types of basil – a member of the mint family – and each can have different flavour notes.
As a wonderfully sharp uncooked sauce, the brilliantly verdant green pesto is made with very fresh basil, usually pine nuts, garlic, a piquant cheese such as Pecorino or Parmigiano-Reggiano and rich olive oil.
Sourcing good ingredients is key to preparing a good pesto alla Genovese, the Ligurian pesto sauce.
So important is the sauce that Italy, within the European Union, has designated Ocimum basilicum, the Genovese gigante cultivar, an herb of protected origin (Denominazione di Origine Protetta).
Hard-core Italian pesto makers harvest their crop early and select sprouts of new growth that have only three leaves.
With the bounty of basil that you can currently find, pesto is a classic sauce for pasta that, while it requires getting a pot of water boiling, is a refreshing summer plate if there ever was one.
Pesto’s rich history
As for aromatic plant itself, the original plant likely came from Africa through India.
While it was certainly known to ancient Romans, the plant really got a foothold in Liguria. The varieties there carry with them more of the clove-like aromas, as compared to the anise and licorice ones that we know in our Thai basil ….
For more of this story, visit Editions Andre Paquette.
