Pesto

Pesto is a type of sauce that originated in Genoa, Italy and traditionally contains crushed garlic, pine nuts, salt, basil leaves and hard cheeses, all blended with olive oil. It is said to originate during the Roman age.

Pesto is first documented in the United States in 1944 in the New York Times with the mention of an imported canned pesto paste. A few years following, in 1946, Sunset magazine published a pesto recipe by Angelo Pellegrini.

In North America pesto did not become popular until the 1980s and 1990s and continues to be a staple Italian sauce in North America today.

Documents

• Celebrate Pesto's Premiere