Pesto: tradition and modernity

Pesto: a sauce which is made in base of basil, garlic, olive oil, pinions and parmesan cheese. This is waht you will read in a lot of recipes. But the truth is that the original Genova's pesto is made only with olive oil, basil, garlic and parmesan.



The sauces based in olive oil were born as an option for figthing against the inexistence of fridge. The marinades, pestos, garlic sauce and the Spanish sauce Romesco were a common practice of the Mediterranean culture for preserving the food.
 

This is the traditional recipe of the Genova's pesto according to the Protected Origin Denomination: basil, garlic, olive oil, parmesan and Peconino cheese, pinions, pecans and salt. This is the traditional pesto for the Genova's POD. 

According to John Dickie, and his book Con Gusto and according with the oldest definition found in a dictionary from 1844, pesto was a sauce based in olive oil, cheese, basil and garlic.In those days no one put pinions for making pesto. And, also, no one put pesto in the pasta because it was a sauce for cooked vegetables.

Is in 1910, in a modern Genova's dictionary, where pesto shows as sauce for pasta. In 1918, an army Genova's officer, Giuseppe Chioni, write a recipe book titled Arte Culinaria. In that book he writes the pesto recipe: basil, garlic, parsley, onion, fresh herbs and Sardo's cheese. No one speak about pinions. 

The same happened in other dictionry from 1955 in wich one, amongst other things, it remarks the importance of using a wood pestle and a marble mortar for elaborating pesto. As always, it isn't mention nothing about pinions. 

Pinions were added as Genova's pesto ingredient recently. Pesto sauce has converted in a condiment more than famous. There is green pesto based in basil, mint, parsley, coriander, rucula, spinach... Or red pestos with dry tomatoes, it's common in the south of Italy, and it follows the traditional recipe: nut, olive oil, grass, garlic and tomato.

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