Let your foods burst with flavour, with pesto!
- Pesto is a condiment or paste used for culinary purposes, and it is primarily for used for flavouring dishes.
- Pesto is typically made of olive oil; parmesan cheese; garlic; nuts, such as pine nuts; and herbs – usually basil.
- ‘Pesto’ comes from the word ‘pestâ’ or ‘pestare’, meaning ‘to pound’ or ‘crush’, that originates from the Genoese language in Italy.
- Italy’s Liguria in Europe is the original home of pesto, although Ancient Romans made a similar condiment with different herbs, named ‘moretum’.
- Pesto is made by crushing the ingredients; and when made at home, the tool historically used is a mortar and pestle, although modern appliances, like blenders, are sometimes used.
Pesto
Image courtesy of bloggyboulga/Flickr
- Foods that can be flavoured with pesto include beans, pasta, potatoes and bread, and while it can be prepared at home, it is commonly available in supermarkets, often in small jars.
- A modern style recipe for pesto was first published in 1863, by Giovanni Battista Ratto, in his book.
- Pesto can be fairly smooth to quite chunky in texture, and is often a vivid green colour, due to the crushed basil.
- Pesto ingredients can vary, and can include sundried tomatoes and capsicum, or different nuts and herbs, and this will alter the taste, and sometimes the colour, which can be red due to the inclusion of tomatoes or capsicum.
- Pesto is often a good source of iron, and vitamins A and C, and sometimes the sodium content can be very high.
Bibliography:
A Marvel of Simplicity: Pesto alla Genovese, 2015, Delallo, http://www.delallo.com/articles/marvel-simplicity-pesto-alla-genovese
Pesto, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pesto
Pesto, 2015, Dr. Gourmet, http://www.drgourmet.com/ingredients/pesto.shtml
