Pesto alla Genovese

I was talking with mostprobably the King of Pesto Genovese and his answer was yes Pesto is the Ligurian excellence linked to the city of Genoa; a product with the PAT designation; a gastronomic specialty known throughout the world. In addition, in its simplest definition, a fresh green sauce, fragrant and tasty.

But how did the Genoese pesto succeed?

I talked about it with one of the figures that most contributed to its growth in sales volumes and notoriety. Roberto Panizza, creator of the Genoa Pesto World Championship and owner of Rossi 1947. He also told me about the origins of his passion.

Where does your bond with the Genoese pesto come from?

"First of all I was born in Genoa, where I grew up in the most beautiful place, my parents' food shop. I always tell this anecdote: when I was little, my crib was quite unusual ... they made me rest in the bread basket, how could I not grow a food lover? I spent hours there beside my mother Rosa. It was the 1950s, at that time, pesto was made at home, in the family. There were no rules, disciplinary, sampled, the commercial spread of pesto is a more recent fact. "

How did you come to have one of the best known companies in the pesto world?

"At the age of twenty I started walking on my own legs. I bought a shop near Rossi, the company that my father had acquired and which was originally a bakery and pastry-shop. Not far away, in my small shop, I started researching and selecting food excellence, reselling them, but above all, I was falling in love with things done well. It was not so usual at the time. Let mey say like this, there was a lot of attention to price rather than quality. I started to put my focus on Ligurian products, including pesto ... "

And from there on everything changed.

"I started offering pesto to my customers, and they liked it. I want to reiterate, it was my pesto: I could not find suppliers that would follow me in the production criteria and so I started doing it myself. Together with my brother Sergio we started production at my father's company, Rossi since 1947. It took me a couple of days to define the recipe, the same one that we followed for over many many years. We only reviewed it five years ago, introducing some tricks. How come so little evidence? I had in mind right away how to do it: choosing good raw materials, making me be guided by experience and culture. "

Pesto is the Ligurian excellence linked to the city of Genoa; the simplest definition, a fresh green sauce, fragrant and tasty.

What would they be?

“For us, now, Genovese DOP Basil, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Parmigiano Reggiano DOP, and then Pecorino Fiore Sardo DOP, Aglio di Vessalico, finest pine nuts and Trapani salt. We were the first to impose ourselves on the quality of the ingredients, what still is the most important when you prepare fresh food. In the preparation of pesto instead counts the hand, the ability with the mortar, but first of all count the raw materials. It's a sauce to use cold (I stress, cold) ... what you put in it you feel it all!

How is your pesto?

"Decided, with personality, traditional, but designed to meet the taste of modern consumers."

With or without garlic?

"The demand for garlic has risen a lot in recent times, but it depends on the area. Ligurians still like the traditional recipe, with garlic, while in regions like Lombardy it goes more without it. We do both but we are tied to the first recipe, so much so that we produce only ten percent without garlic. "

You are among the founder - or rather the creator - of the Genoa Pesto World Championship. How did you get the idea?

"There was a time when I felt the need to tell how to make a good pesto. I gave an example with online videos and other demonstrations. But turning to Italy I realized that it was not enough as a means of disclosure."

Or?

"The competition! Wherever I went, I heard conflicting opinions on traditional recipes: "I do it this way", "I put this into it", "I cook it like this" ... which was not the case for our sauce. Discussion is essential to focus attention on a product. With a group of professionals from different fields we developed the idea in a structured way and started the work to establish the Pesto World Championship with mortar. And to produce the Pesto with a mortar is the only right way and if you try it yourself you will feel the difference."

And is it working?

"They speak the numbers. In these 12 years of the Championship (the first edition dates back to 2007) product sales have increased tenfold and an annual + 30% sales of mortars with Carrara marble has been recorded. The school was born to become experts in mortar pesto, not to mention that hundreds of people from all over the world apply to participate in the competition. Now we make selections - and we go there directly - to every corner of the planet: from Toronto to New York, from Moscow to Buenos Aires. The Pesto Genovese is known internationally, and with pleasure I can say that more and more foreigners are approaching the traditional preparation. In the final challenge, held in a prestigious venue, the Palazzo Ducale in Genoa, a symbol of the city's culture, at the last edition there were 33 foreigners out of 100 registered to compete against a commission of 30 judges. An impressive goal. The foreign press also talks a lot about us, even the BBC told us about the World Pesto Championship in Genoa. "

Find the recipe for the best pesto I ever head on this link: