When we take pesto prepared from fresh basil, fold it into steaming pasta, and allow the inimitable fragrance to rise up, we ask ourselves: with what aromatic molecules is this plant blessing us? In this second part we try to uncover the nature of this culinary-chemical marvel from an experimental point of view, and thereby come to enjoy it all the more.
Compared to chemical syntheses, culinary directions tend to be rather vague, which is why for a given dish there is sometimes hundreds of different recipes. At the same time, however, recipes offer the priceless advantage that they never go fully awry, because something more or less tasty always emerges. Unfortunately, there is no peer review system associated with cookbooks, which might otherwise prevent at least some of the worst mistakes from being propagated through many cookbook generations.
With practice, a dish is typically improved, since it comes to conform more and more to the personal vision of the chef. At the end of this trial-and-error process, there may emerge, for example, “your own” recipe starting with the following instructions derived from the author’s wife. Try it out!
Ingredients
Preparation
Coarsely chop up the basil leaves using kitchen shears. Crush three tablespoons of pine nuts in a mortar, and then mix in a good cold-pressed olive oil. Add the chopped basil leaves and continue to grind until a smooth paste is obtained.
Add more olive oil as needed. At the end, add a tablespoon of freshly grated parmesan cheese, and mix well.
Transfer the finished pesto to a glass jar that can be tightly sealed, and cover the pesto with a layer of olive oil.
The pesto can now be kept for a prolonged period of time in the refrigerator. If the paste should become too thick, add more olive oil.
Notes
Prepare spaghetti — or better yet, a more elegant type of pasta — in boiling, salted water until it is al dente. Admittedly, choosing the type of pasta is a science in its own right, but try it out anyway. Pesto tastes best with ligurian trenette (which looks like a narrow, flat kind of spaghetti, ca. 3 mm wide) or a thin tagliatelli. Trenette has just the right ratio of surface area to volume for optimum pesto uptake: not too high, as with farfalle or macaroni, and not too low, as with spaghetti. Place a portion of the pasta on a pre-warmed plate, and mix 1–2 teaspoons of pesto into it. Finally, sprinkle fresh parmesan or pecorino over the top.
When the entire room has filled with the aroma of basil, pour out a glass of dry red wine (Italian, of course!). Close your eyes, inhale deeply the monoterpenes, and give isoprene units the opportunity to dance before your mind’s eye. Surely there’s no finer way to appreciate chemistry!
Freie Universität Berlin, Germany.
The article has been published in German in:
and was translated by W. E. Russey.
Klaus Roth uncovers the nature of this culinary-chemical marvel, and thereby comes to enjoy it all the more
Other articles by Klaus Roth published by ChemViews magazine:
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