- Vassalico garlic, from Imperia - this particular garlic is more delicate and supposedly easier to digest than other varieties
- Basil from Pra' (very delicate flavor) - from basil plants approximately two months old
- Salt from Cervia
- Italian pine nuts (these are increasingly difficult to find, thanks to an infestation of a particular breed of moths ravaging Italy’s pine trees)
- Pecorino Romano, Grana Padana or Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.
- Ligurian extra virgin olive oil
Although these are the “official” ingredients for authentic Genovese pesto, pesto is really just a pulverized sauce consisting of basil, garlic, walnuts or pine nuts, pecorino romano or parmigiano reggiano or prescinseua (a fresh, soft, very tart cheese, described as somewhere between ricotta and Greek yogurt, and made from cow's milk), extra virgin olive oil, and salt. The first printed recipe for “pesto alla genovese” can be found in the Ratto brothers' (or Giovanni Ratto… information varies about who was the author) Cuciniera Genovese, published either in 1863 or 1865. In this book, the first comprehensive publication of Ligurian cuisine, the recipe for pesto is indicated as follows:
“Take a clove of garlic, basil (baxaicö in Genovese), or in the absence of, marjoram and parsley, grated parmesan cheese and Dutch cheese, mix together and pound all in a mortar with a little butter until it is reduced to pulp. Untie then with light oil in abundance. With this beat seasoned lasagna and gnocchi (troffie, a traditional Genovese potato-based pasta), enclosing a little hot water without salt to make it more liquid.”
The 19th century recipe calls for more garlic than basil, because of the bulb’s medicinal properties, utilized particularly by Liguria’s many sailors. Over the years, it has transformed to the point that there is now more basil than garlic, making for a more aromatic and balanced mixture.
Pesto was little known in the United States until World War II, after which several companies in Italy began exporting the sauce. It reached the height of its U.S. popularity in the late 1980s. Frank Sinatra began marketing his own brand of “pesto sauce” in the 1990s.
- Some sources link pesto's heritage to “garum”- an Ancient Roman fermented fish sauce, made from soaking fish in salt water and herbs. In Virgil's Eclogues, there is mention of a farmer eating a piece of focaccia with “moretum”- a sauce prepared with a mortar and pestle, made of herbs, olive oil, and cheese. Both moretum and garum can be interpreted as ancestors of modern-day pesto. It is believed that garum developed into a medieval garlic sauce called dall'aggiadda, the clear predecessor to pesto. Dall'aggiada is a garlic sauce, prepared with a mortar and pestle, and made by combining the garlic with vinegar, olive oil, and salt. It is a bold sauce whose flavor was used to mask the intense flavor aroma of overly mature (i.e. spoiled) meat. These garlic sauces were widely used in Liguria, because of their dependence on the sea and maritime activity. Garlic was believed to have antiseptic properties, for which reason sailors would consume large quantities of it, hoping to ward off illness and infection while out at sea.
- Others claim that pesto is the product of influence from the Persian Empire, which grew to occupy large swaths of the Eastern Mediterranean during various parts of the Medieval era, and which has its own tradition of sauces/salsas made from pine nuts and tart cheese. One point in favor of this argument is that basil is not indigenous to Italy, instead originating in Asia Minor and Africa, later imported to Liguria and the Provence region of France.
- Another possible source of pesto is rooted in the bitter feud between Liguria and Venice during the Middle Ages. Venice had a monopoly over spices in Italy, and to counteract the need for such flavorings, Ligurians focused on best utilizing what their region provided, adopting local herbs into their recipes. Other cultures had utilized basil for perfumes, cosmetics, and medicine, but Ligurians were one of the first cultures to adopt basil for cooking and food preparation.
Liguria Report continues next week with trofi, Liguria's regional spin on gnocchi.