Pistou and pesto are both closely related and are uncooked paste-like condiments made of fresh basil.  The former is French and the later the Italian cousin with pesto having the addition of pine nuts and grated Parmesan cheese. It is often called Pesto Genovese, a favourite sauce for pasta.  Pistou has more garlic and a little more salt.  As to the 'which came first' question, both sides of course will claim the other copied it.  It doesn't matter, really.  It is worthy of note, however that pesto was documented in the time of Virgil (70-19 B. C.).  See notes below for a little history.

These delicious pastes are always added to the end of the dish as a seasoning and never cooked which would greatly reduce the colour and flavour.  An exception is the French Provencal Soup with Pistou when it is added about 20 minutes or so before the end of cooking time.  More often it is stirred into a soup at the table as a condiment.

Click here for recipes for both with more information on either.  Both are delicious as a condiment, seasoning, spread or topping for innumerable uses.  Try mixing a little with scrambled or stuffed eggs, adding to a vinaigrette, stirred into soups, vegetable dishes (especially beans) or stirred into simple tomato sauces, with baked potatoes or tossed with roasted or sautéed.  The list is long.  Add a little magic to your usual dishes!

Rough measure and tips:  a large bunch of herbs may weigh more or less 100 g. and will lay in your open hand, whereas a small bunch can be almost enclosed by your fingers.  Normally, fresh herbs are not 'washed' as this will release some of their essential oils.  If you do not know from whom you buy them, and would feel better 'washing' them, then do not hold them under running water.  Just swish them once or twice gently in a cold basin of water.  Pluck off all the leaves and gently pat dry or spin them briefly in a salad spinner.  Lay them out on a kitchen towel to dry before using for pistou/pesto.  Reserve the stems for using whole in a soup or sauce.  Discard before serving.

Basics for either:  Though there are variations, the basic ingredients and fundamental techniques are fixed and the same -  a clove or more of garlic pounded with salt, a bunch of fresh basil leaves, enough olive oil to acquire the consistency desired and in the case of pesto, the addition of pine nuts with pecorino or if you do not have it then Parmesan cheese are added at the end. 

In the older versions of pesto that date back to the time of Virgil, pecorino cheese and not Parmesan was used and is considered a 'modern' ingredient to this classic paste as is the addition or substitution of almonds or walnuts.  Using butter is sacrilegious and would not be pesto but basil butter with cheese.  The Italians I know would shudder at the thought.

Though using a hand-held blender or similar certainly speeds up the process, crushing the garlic with the salt first releases the oils better, dissolves the salt and gives the texture necessary for a good paste and is a standard procedure in Italian, French and Spanish cooking methods.  I start mine off this way, add the torn leaves of the basil and pound them for a few minutes before finishing off using my hand-held blender and adding the olive oil until I have the consistency I want.  A little of the old with the modern techniques works well for me when I am in a hurry otherwise I enjoy taking the time to make it as have generations before me.  It is good therapy. 

If you use a mortar and pestle, be sure that it is large enough, or add more basil leaves as they reduce until all is used up. 

Why tear the leaves rather than leaving them whole or chopping them first?  Pounding them whole, seems to take a little longer and the contact with the metal of the knife (or blender for that matter) will produce a darker pistou or pesto, which is not desirable.  The mortar and pestle technique produces the brightest green pesto and releases the maximum flavours.

Pistou - Provencal dialect for 'pounded' 

...but is understood to mean basil paste.  Provencal cooking is unthinkable without pistou and is similar to pesto, however more garlic is used, and no pine nuts nor cheese are used in the original recipe.  How much garlic used varies from family to family and can be from 3 to 6 cloves for the pistou recipe!  Today modern versions using sun-dried tomatoes, or fresh or other ingredients are added by adventurous cooks and are also tasty.  In that case, then it is not pistou, but pistou with sun-dried tomatoes etc.

Pesto - in Italian refers to the pestle or also means 'to pound or crush'

Pesto alla Genovese

For the Ligurians, basilico (meaning 'royal' in Greek) is the king of herbs and rightfully so.  The Genoese are famous for their pesto and claim that authentic pesto can only be made with a mortar and pestle using young basil plants of the small leafed variety.  Of course, the large leafed basil (akn. Italian basil) is the kind most most commonly available throughout Europe's markets and outside of Genoa or private gardens with ample supplies. 

Making pesto is not rocket science, and few traditional cooks in Italy would think of weighing or measuring the ingredients.  Just remember that as a general guide, 1 clove per bunch of fresh basil, a pinch of salt is a 'serious' pinch meaning a good 1/8 teaspoon.  The amount of pine nuts used is again a chef's preference, but a small handful will be what fits in the hollow of your cupped palm.  More or less of one ingredient or another will not affect the pesto (or pistou for that matter) but make it uniquely your own.  The amount of oil is whatever is enough to make a not too thick and not too thin paste.  Click here for the pistou/pesto recipes with variations.

Other variations to basic pesto is the addition of a good handful of flat leaf parsley, substituting almonds for the pine nuts or adding a few chopped sun-dried tomatoes.  Crush well after you have worked on the garlic and salt for a few minutes before adding the basil and continuing. 

Of course, you can create pestos made entirely of parsley (add a little lemon juice and use almonds) rucula (rocket) or cilantro (use either pine nuts or almonds and pound in 1 small dried red chilie, or a few serrano chilies or similar for a piquant change.)

Both pistou and pesto freeze well.  I recommend freezing in tablespoon quantities, allowing to come to room temperature before using.  If you are freezing larger quantities, such as small tubs, then omit the cheese and add this once it is thawed and room temperature.  Covered with a little olive oil, it also keeps well in the refrigerator for several days to a week.  After this time, it may become bitter and loose its bright green colour.

Try your hand (or rather mortar and pestle) at making your own great pistou/pesto and add a little magic to your dishes!

 

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History note:  Italian cuisine was well established as an art before France as a country existed and its tribes 'civilized'.  For history enthusiasts, in 7th century B.C Greek colonists peacefull co-existed with the Gauls from the north in Massilia (today Marseille).  In 125 B.C. Rome made the Provence a province (a clever play on spelling) and successfully ruled the south.  Most of Europe at the time of the Roman Empire was inhabited by quarrelsome tribes.

 

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  The Epicurean Table   www.epicureantable.com © 2003-2006 

Patricia Conant,  columnist and food writer   

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