The pestle and mortar challenge – The 2007 world championships of Genoese Pesto al mortaio (made using a pestle and mortar)
One hundred competitors challenged each other for a whole day in Genoa, each armed with a pestle and mortar for the 2007 Pesto Championship held in the charming Salone del Maggior Consiglio (The Hall of the Upper Council) in Palazzo Ducale (The Doge’s Palace). There were at least a thousand spectators around them.
About half of the participants were Genoese, a further 15 were Ligurian, many Italian regions were well-represented including Piedmont, Tuscany, Friuli, Sardinia and also 2 foreigners came all the way from Paris with their own mortar. Participants were of all ages; the oldest was born in 1921, and has been making pesto for a lifetime. The youngest was 20, an apprentice chef. All occupations were represented.
Among the participants, there were many professionals and famous names in the world of restaurateurs, but there were also simple pesto lovers with a wide range of occupations from lawyers, engineers, students, pensioners, teachers, doctors, entrepreneurs and many others.
During the competition, the participants wore aprons and the Pesto Championship hat and they all used the same ingredients, provided by the organisers, to make Genoese Pesto al Mortaio in no more than 40 minutes.
The event, which was wholeheartedly supported by Genoa City Council and Liguria Regional Council, saw the presence of its Honorary Committee the President of Liguria Region, the Mayor of Genoa, the President of Genoa’s Chamber of Commerce, the Regional Councillor for Tourism in Liguria, the Regional Councillor for Agriculture in Liguria, the Town Councillor for Communication and Promotion of the city in Genoa.
The jury, made up of 30 judges (tasters, restaurateurs, journalists specialised in gourmet cuisine and cooking experts) assessed the pesto made by each of the 100 participants and, after a long morning, chose only 10 participants to go through to the grand final in the afternoon. Of these finalists, 9 were men; Luciana Parodi was the only woman and it was her job to represent the “fairer sex”; “I was also determined to prove that women are better,” said Luciana.
The jury, after a whole day of tasting, awarded the prize for the best Pesto al mortaio of the whole competition, having assessed dexterity, colour, the fineness, the consistency, the flavour and the balance of flavours of all the ingredients.
The final was exhausting; Using the pestle and mortar isn’t for everyone. The jury asked the participants to make the pesto twice, and in the end declared Luciana Parodi the world champion of pesto al mortaio.
Luciana made the following comments about her victory.
At home I make pesto almost every day. And very often I use a pestle and mortar. It seemed like great fun to take part in the pesto al mortaio competition. For us Genoese, pesto is in our blood. We’ve seen it made at home since we were born. We can recognise good basil with our eyes closed, just by the fragrance. And I really liked the idea of being among other people also using a pestle and mortar, I was curious to see them working with the mortar and their small but important secrets for making pesto.
What struck me most about the day was the enthusiasm and love for pesto of the participants, organisers and spectators at the event. Often we don’t give enough importance to day-to-day things; at least sometimes we take them for granted. We regularly have pesto on our dinner tables, we make it with ease; making pesto becomes a normal occurrence. The day of the world championship of pesto al mortaio brought pesto back into the limelight, reminding us that it’s pesto which is the symbol of Genoa.
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