I work in a place that is filled with people consumed with a passion for food. Their passion is infectious and I often learn many new things about vegies, meat, pastry, bread and other fascinating facts about food. The two owners are constantly researching new food ideas and creating new meals, pastries, breads, etc. It’s inspiring to see so much ardour in someone’s life. Today I taste tested a baked grapefruit with caramelised sugar, yesterday it was a spiced wallaby pie, the day before it was a ‘mighty mulligatawny’ soup! The BEST goddam soup I’ve had in all my 22 years! -btw Im attempting to make this soup soon so Ill post about it. Everything at the store is locally sourced in Tasmania or are from non-commercial businesses and everyone who works at the store love to cook, buy local and in season and share recipes and ideas. Last week it was kumera (sweet potato) this week the conversation was centred around basil and what to make with the masses we had.
Pesto, obviously!
However, instead of making ordinary pesto with pinenuts we suggested pistou - a simpler version of pesto with basil and olive oil blended to the desired consistency.
The ironic thing is that Pistou is an olive oil based basil sauce from the south of France (mon amour) that closely resembles pesto. True pistou is made by hand, you tear the basil leaves in pieces, then add them to a mortar and pestle with olive oil (garlic can also be added) and grind them together until you’re left with a silky puree of basil and oil goodness.
We (namely them) shared some of our favourite ways to enjoy pistou. The one I tried for breakfast this morning was with poached eggs on sourdough baquette drizzled with a good serving of pistou. I must admit I got a mini arm working out from all the grinding but it was definitely worth it. Peasant fare, to be sure but absolutely bangin'!
I sprinkled it with parmesan cheese to give it a bit of oomph!
Now where to buy a food processor...
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