Pesto

"Pesto is the quiche of the eighties" Nora Ephron

When did pesto become so popular that you could buy jars of it in the supermarket? Felicity Cloake of The Guardian gives it a time-frame of around ten years in the UK and deplores it's popularisation in "pesto crisps, pesto hummus (shudder) and even pesto oatcakes," and says that the real version is not actually that common. Personally I think it might be a bit longer than ten years. For evidence I cite a recipe from Delia, which started me off on this post (more later), from her Summer Collection which was published last century - way back in 1993. And I don't think it was a real novelty even then. So I'm guessing the 70s and 80s when we were all into travelling to France and Italy and 'gourmet' food started to become the thing. And that quote at the top of the page seems to confirm that theory. And yes, she is right - you can get pesto flavoured everything and, of course, jars of pesto. Which really, really do not taste like the real thing. But it is common - no decent Italian restaurant would not have pasta with pesto in some form or other.

In her article she also deplores all the other versions of pesto that you can find - "not "Japanese pesto" or sun-dried tomato pesto, or anything involving rocket." They appear on the supermarket shelves and there are lots and lots of recipes for them in trendy food magazines and cook books. Personally I don't think I would decry them - really they are just sauces based around a herb, some nuts and an oil - maybe some garlic, or chilli or other flavouring. Coriander and peanuts seems to be a pretty common alternative version. The cheese I am not so sure about. I did make a watercress one recently but it was pretty disappointing. Not such an 'in your face' taste sensation as pesto alla Genovese.

So - pesto. It has apparently been around in the basic form I described in the previous paragraph, since before the Romans, but the Ligurian pesto that we know today is only documented from the mid nineteenth century. I bet it was being made long before then, because it's so simple isn't it? Basil, cheese and olive oil are absolutely essential - the garlic and pine nuts apparently not, although they do seem to appear in most recipes. If you want to make pesto I recommend you read Felicity Cloake's article because she discusses at length all the different ways you can go about it. And you really must make your own. She does recommend using a pestle and mortar (pestle and pesto are from the same Latin root), but I confess I lazily use a food processor. And if you use pesto you should make your own because it really does taste so much better than the bought versions. I once needed some pesto and was feeling lazy so was going to just buy a jar, but when I saw the price I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Even in the supermarket it was much cheaper to buy a bunch of basil and make it myself. It takes five minutes, plus the washing up.

It actually took me some time to take to basil and subsequently to pesto. I now wonder why, but initially I really didn't like it. Now I think it is pretty divine. So it just shows that sometimes you have to persevere. Do we train our tastebuds in some way I wonder? How does it work? Because the things we liked and didn't like as children, for example, are not the same as what we like now. Cooked cheese used to literally make me sick as a child - now I can't resist a cheese topping on all sorts of things.

What started me off on pesto was the fact that I have to supply a salad for a party we are going to this afternoon, and I thought I would make Delia's Pesto Rice Salad. I actually volunteered this a while back as it's easy and delicious, but it's actually also very suitable for today which is very hot - not much cooking and therefore, heat, involved. Interestingly, the quantities in her online version are different to those in my cook book - roughly half, so I guess she is making a smaller quantity. Mine says for 4-6 people though and I actually doubled it because we are going to be a large party. It has made a largish bowl. But still, the quantities in her online version are not a straight halving - the spring onions especially. I wonder if she revised it herself or if somebody else did. I guess it shows how we gradually change and tweak the things we cook doesn't it?

And of course, the better the quality of your ingredients, the better the quality of the sauce, but I confess none of mine are of the highest quality and it still tastes wonderful.

And it's very summery. You can't really get basil in the winter. Well you can but it's that floppy kind of hydroponic basil. Still worth doing though. Make a batch today. It will keep in a jar in the fridge with a layer of olive oil on top for a couple of weeks.