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JaNuary 21, 2011 Alberto Lunetta The Signature Staff
Italy celebrates Pesto Day
Pesto Genovese: an Ageless Benchmark of Great Italian Cuisine By ITCHEFS-gvci.com There’s no doubt, it’s the most loved raw sauce of the world and, as such, it’s just as famous as mayonnaise, if not, even more so. We’re talking about Pesto, about the only genuine one; the Genoese one (not ‘alla genovese’). Basil, garlic, pine nuts, Grana Padano or Parmigiano Reggiano and Pecorino cheeses, extra virgin oil and a few granules of sea salt. All the other diverse variations floating around the world are nothing more than unsuccessful bogus or aberrations of the original. Pesto is an ageless benchmark and a contemporary symbol of Italian cooking around the world. It’s enough to think that for dressing pasta only tomato sauce is used more. In the name of Mortar & Pestle Already in 1876, ‘pesto’ was entered by Giovanni Casaccia in his Genoese Italian dictionary as a word autochthonous of Genoa. The word comes from ‘pestare’, to crush something with a pestle to reduce it to powder, a mash or to the thinnest of layers. Therefore, pesto is also known as ‘battuto genovese’ (Genoese mince or mash). From ‘pestare’ also comes the word ‘pestle’ (‘pestillium’ in Latin) that together with the mortar is the utensil used for making this sauce; a wooden pestle, that is, of hard, compact wood, such as boxwood or pear and a mortar of white marble, of Carrara, unpolished inside. The word ‘mortar’ is derived from the Latin ‘mortarium’, a recipient in which ingredients are minced or mashed, historically not only used in kitchens but also in traditional pharmacies. In the proto-kitchens of many people of the Earth, similar utensils are found, although made out of different materials, such as the ‘molcajete’ and the ‘metate’ of Central America and the Japanese ‘suribachi’. The ancestors: moretum and agliata Genoese pesto probably descends from the ‘moretum’ of the ancient Romans, a green paste obtained from cheese, garlic and herbs, the preparation of which is described, moreover, in a verse attributed to Virgil. Pesto, as we know it today, was not well known in
the times of Cristoforo Colombo (1451 1506), the world’s best known Ligurian. But in the Middle Ages, there was a sauce, defined plebeian by some authors, which can be considered, in some manner, to be the predecessor of pesto. It was called ‘agliata’, simply a mash of walnuts and garlic. For centuries, the latter ingredient has occupied a crucial place in the nutrition of the Ligurians, especially for those who went to sea. And there were many who did, for Genoa and Liguria have had ancient maritime traditions. These seafarers ingested great quantities of it since they believed it warded off illnesses and infections during the long voyages in conditions of extreme hygienic precariousness. The first recipes Mashed garlic is mentioned in the documents of the City of Genoa of the 17th century, while the recipe for true pesto starts to appear only in the 19th century. During the first half of the latter appear recipes that do not contemplate pine nuts and in 1863 Giovanni Battista Ratto published La Cuciniera Genovese, considered to be the first and most complete book on the gastronomy of the Region of Liguria and in which the recipe for pesto, with pine nuts, is the following: “Take a clove of garlic, basil (‘baxaicö’) or, when that is lacking, marjoram and parsley, grated Dutch and Parmigiano cheese and mix them with pine nuts and crush it all together in a mortar with a little butter until reduced to a paste. Then dissolve it with good and abundant oil. Lasagne and troffie [Liguria kind of gnocchi] are dressed with this mash, made more liquid by adding a little hot water without salt.” The presence of Dutch cheese instead of pecorino should be of no surprise; first of all, various recipes of that time mention a generic ‘cacio’ (cheese), and then because Gouda was plentiful in Genoa since the city’s maritime commerce with Northern Europe. Furthermore, the differentiation between Parmigiano Reggiano and Grana Padano cheese is a recent one, it is very probable that until the institution of the respective consortia of protection (in the 1950’s), grana types of cheeses were used in pesto
without distinguishing one from the other. Parsley or marjoram as alternatives to basil is a concession resulting from the fact that, then in Liguria, where this plant originating from India was abundant, but only when in season. Pesto Genovese is for pasta! Ratto’s recipe for Pesto states unmistakably that it is a sauce for dressing pasta, for lasagne, and for ‘troffie’ or ‘trofie’ that in Liguria are elongated and twisted gnocchi, with pointed extremities and fatter waists. These are not to be confused with ‘trofiette’ that are smaller and in fact are more used with Pesto. Trofie, kneaded out of white flour are a speciality of the town of Recco in the Province of Genoa, the same town that gave birth to the famous focaccia. Trofie and trofiette, there’s even a version made out of chestnut flour, are, therefore, fresh, handmade pasta. Genoa however is also an Italian capital of the production of dried pasta. Already in 1279, when Marco Polo was still in China, the Genoese Ponzio Bastone left a basket of dried pasta, in inheritance to his sons. Genoese Pesto honours this great tradition, so the dried pasta variation of the dish is ‘trenette’ (or ‘trinette’), with a shape similar to ‘mafalde’ but thinner than linguine or fettuccine. In the 1800’s, the pasta al pesto was considered to be a working class dish and nowadays the recipe of that time has remained substantially the same. There was and there is still in Liguria the habit of adding potatoes, broad beans or French beans, and sometimes zucchini cut into small pieces and boiled together with the pasta. Especially in Genoa, potatoes and French beans are added to classic or improved (avvantaggiate) trenette, that is, ones made out of whole wheat flour, or to trofiette. Rules are not always fixed. For some, “avvantaggiate” are trenette to which vegetables have been added and there is, furthermore, a purist school that categorically excludes potatoes from trofie. In general it is said that in Liguria it’s difficult to find two equal versions of pesto, because of the variations, sometimes within the same family, such as the PESTO, continued on page 13
Genoa - Over 2,000 participating restaurants in roughly 40 countries honored real Genovese pesto on January 17th, marking the fourth annual International Day of Italian Cuisine (IDIC). Genovese pesto was chosen as the official dish of IDIC 2011, a worldwide celebration of authentic Italian food that will even see pestobased Ligurian specialties served on 14 ships of the Italian cruise company Costa Crociere. "Pesto Day is an important showcase for our manufacturers to publicize, promote, and distinguish real Genovese pesto from false imitations," agricultural councilor Giovanni Barbagallo told reporters in Genoa. "Defending the traditional pesto recipe from imitations is a priority for Liguria." To that end, the oily green sauce beloved by Italian food fans the world over may also soon have its own certification. The Liguria region is seeking a European Union "STG" (Guaranteed Traditional Specialty) mark for pesto meeting strict criteria for genuine, Ligurian ingredients. "With the STG designation we want to protect the seven ingredients of true pesto: PDO Genovese
basil, garlic, olive oil Riviera Ligure PDO, salt, pine nuts, pecorino and grana padano cheese," added Barbagallo. PDO stands for Protected Designation of Origin, a European certification the Liguria region has already secured for locally produced basil and extra-virgin olive oil. "We want to unite the name of Liguria with the territory's quality products, like pesto, as a fundamental strategy for tourism development through (Ligurian) culinary specialties," declared Genoa's tourism councilor Angelo Berlangieri. The word "pesto" comes from "pestare", or to crush with a pestle and mortar, a reference to the original method for creating the Genovese sauce. Hence pesto is also known as "battuto genovese" or Genovese mince or mash. The pasta condiment was still rare in the days of legendary Genovese explorer Christopher Columbus, but had become well established by the 19th century. IDIC's Pesto Day is officially sponsored by the Liguria Region, Grana Padano cheese, Genova Pasta and a consortium of olive oil makers, among others.
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