Basil has come to stay for the summer

I thought 'Hey Pesto!' would be a good, fun and appropriate name for my blog - and I still do even tho' there seem to be quite a few others who chose the name thinking it would be unique - I even saw in the London Daily Telegraph yesterday that Jamie Oliver has his own brand of pesto called ...... what else!

There may be lots of other Hey Pestos in cyber space but there wont be another one like mine, so I decided to stick with it.

Easter in Greece involves all sorts of fascinating traditions (that I can tell you about some other time - like next Easter!) one of which is the purchasing of at least one little seedling Basil plant to grow and nuture for the spring and summer months until, again traditionally, the day of the Holy Cross on September 14th when bunches of the leaves are taken to church to be dipped in Holy Water and the congregation blessed by the priest waving the now Holy leaves over their heads. Every house in Greece will have pots of Basil plants - not for cooking purposes as using the fragrant leaves in cooking is fairly new to Greek kitchens - but for patting as you pass to release its heavenly scent and in the hope that it really will keep mosquitoes away.

"The Greeks have a word for it" as they say and the Basil plant is no exception as, in rough translation, the saying goes that 'the plant next to the Basil gets watered too' and Basils do need a lot of water, often morning and evening in the height of summer - and they reward you with growth that you can measure on a daily basis. * The plant above is, in fact, one of last summer's pots and started off like the ones below:

Baby Basils just freshly planted

One week later!

This is just one of several pots that will ensure a plentiful supply of leaves for tomato salad and sauce and, joy of all joys, Pesto for pasta and tomato and mozzarella salad! Because a LOT of basil is needed for even the smallest quantity of Pesto I have a LOT of pots but even they are not enough sometimes and I have to raid the local market, especially for the large leaves that are sold in bunches.

I use walnuts instead of the usual pine nuts in my Pesto, the best Parmesan and the best Olive Oil that I get every autumn from olive groves that I know personally and will tell you about another time. All whizzed up in the food processor in a matter of magical moments, the bowl full of green leaves, a little bit of garlic, salt to taste, walnuts, parmesan and as much olive oil as you need to make the right consistency and there you are, Hey Pesto!

Summer is almost here bringing with it glorious fresh tastes, colours and scents and cool drinks that I am going to share with you - Greece at its best!

Wishing you sunshine, whatever the weather!
Bridget


*This has a deeper meaning, not always favourable, suggesting that someone next to a person who is benefitting from "being watered" can benefit too - but let's stick with the saintly Basil plant and whichever plant is lucky enough to be sitting next to it - in my garden it's mint and majoram:

Mojito anyone?