In northern Italy one can see Poppies growing wild
and in small towns, one can see domesticated Poppies gathering for coffee and conversation.
Italy abounds with beautiful Churches and in every city and town one can go inside those consecrated holy spaces and see the most amasing and inspiring works of art that not only literally lifts your eyes towards Heaven, the art also lifts your soul as well
It would take too long to delve into the history of the beautiful Cathedral in Parma and the wonder-worker whose novel artistic designs caused such a great scandal (Later, the town grew-up and began to brag about him) but, come on, could Raider Fan miss an opportunity to photograph the statue of such a dandy?
The funner question to ponder is, did he really present like this or was he made to appear this way owing to his radical novelties in the decorative arts - painting - and the anger of the town towards he and his paintings ?
Spending time with the Bride discussing this over a bottle of the local wine made for a beautiful evening....
And because so many of these beautiful Churches were constructed prior to the universal solvent of Tradition, Ecumenism, baptising very damn thing, such scenes as this can be seen - one that made our guide wax apologetic owing to the truth depicted; those on His right side (of the Cross) Christian Catholics, are saved, whereas those on His left - the Messias-Deniers, The Jews, are condemned and humiliated.
Note the angel forcing the Pharisees head down...
But, even in Italy, a trad can not avoid walking into some handsome lil' Church where the locals had scrimped and saved to provide the money for some artisan to construct a High Altar worthy of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass only to see some dumb ass table crammed into the sanctuary in front of the High Altar. An Altar represents Jesus Christ and a table represents a meal.
That's it.
A High Altar is Catholic and a dumb ass table is protestant; and there is no use in trying to tell Raider Fan any differently.
When in Italy, (it has been said that Italy is one gigantic vineyard) one drinks the local wine; and it is GREAT.
OK, actually, this is crazy good wine and small explosions of happiness almost immediately begin to occur in one's brain when one drinks it... Go ahead, try to drink this and not have a complete blast.
If you are in this region and do not drink this wine Raider Fan is convinced you will be sent to Hell; and rightly so.
OK, this too is great!!! One just can't get this sort of quality in America
Hell yes, you should visit a local winery and buy their product for cocktail hours on the deck with your Bride. Raider Fan loves him some Piemonte Region- NOTICE THERE IS NO "D"
And, even if you don't like wine, the Maitre will force you to drink it
But this post is supposed to be about Real Pesto so let's get at it
The Basil Pesto from the Ligurian Region of Italy is unlike anything you have had to eat in America and Genova Pesto sets the standard. The Basil Pesto one eats in America is too dense and it is way too loaded down with garlic and the Basil one buys in America is not like what is grown in the Ligurian Region.
So what to do?
Well, order your Basil Seeds from here
http://www.growitalian.com
and grow your own Basil.
Then follow this recipe. It may seem too precious a process but, trust Raider Fan, it is worth every single step and minute if you desire to eat Pesto as it is made in this fantastic region.
4 cups packed basil leaves (2 ounces)
1/3 cup pine nuts
1 garlic clove, green center stem removed if existing
1/2 cup EVOO. Raider Fan uses Corto EVOO from California if he has no real Italian EVOO around. Don't skimp on cheap EVOO, many examples of which are fake.
1/3 cup freshly grated Parm-Reggiano
1/3 cup grated Fiore Sardo (or aged Pecorino Toscano)..
If neither of those last two cheeses can be found, just use 2/3 cups Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese grated with a microplane so it rapidly melts into the pesto so not too much processing is required
1 Teaspoon flakey sea salt
Submerge Basil leaves in cold water for five minutes, drain and repeat for five minutes, drain and repeat for five minutes, drain and then submerge again for 15 minutes. (30 minutes total).
Yes, it really is necessary to do this to match as closely as possible what you would be blessed to eat in Liguria.
While the basil is soaking, drop the garlic and pine nuts into a blender and baptise it with 1/2 cup EVOO and blend until smooth and creamy.
Once the basil has completed soaking, drain it but do not go nuts, let some water stick to the leaves for processing.
In four stages, grab the basil and put it into the blender and pulse 5-6 times; once that is done, add the cheese and blend until it is absorbed.
This freezes beautifully and Raider Fan stores it in baggies in1/4 cup amounts.
Try it - this is as close to Heaven on earth one can get and the existence of Italian wine and Genova Basil Pesto is proof that God loves us.
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O, and if some store in America advertises a sale for real balsamic vinegar, forget it - such a product is made only in Modena (where the great Pavarotti * was born) and when you visit one of the few families there who do make it, you will NEVER forget the intoxicating smell inside that house.
If the bottle you are buying - no matter how expensive - does not have Tradizonale on the bottle, it means you are just buying a phony bottle of the real stuff manufactured in Modena by multinationals.
Real Balsamic Vinegar is unimaginably good; and to drip a few drops of it on fresh local
Parmigiano-Reggiano... Lord have mercy.
O, and get a load of what their 40 year old aged product sells for:
Raider Fan has this song as the ring tone on his phone. Pavarotti never fails to excite Raider Fan with either soaring joy or collapsing tears (sometimes both) and what a powerful and profound voice and note the way he looks to the audience for approval.
Did I sing that right; did I satisfy you?
He was never arrogant about his singing and he wanted to do his very best before whatever crowd he was singing.
They ain't making men like him anymore.
*