The story of the Better Basil Bureau and PestoMania
Almost everyone knows what pesto is: a tasty blend of basil, garlic, nuts, cheese and olive oil. Gerry Matthews of Haddam, CT first tasted pesto in 1990 and that taste stimulated a series of events that could make Haddam, CT the Pesto Capital of the US. It didn’t take very long for Matthews to realize there was good pesto and there was great pesto. As an avid gardener and scientist, Matthews found himself thrust into a quest to discover the perfect pesto.
He learned of pesto’s origin in Genoa, Italy. He researched basil, the main ingredient, and was amazed to find its many varieties. He experimented with preparation methods from traditional mortar and pestle to blender and food processor. And then began the daunting yet fulfilling task of assessing the overall effect of the ingredients. What variety of basil is best? Does the grade of olive oil matter? What difference does toasting the pine nuts make? Is Parmesan cheese better that Romano? Does adding butter, olives, parsley or hot pepper flakes make tastier pesto?
Pesto testing began, but after only a few samples, Matthews realized that taste-bud overload obliterated objective evaluation. Fortunately, this problem was easily solved: a sip of wine very effectively refreshed the palate between tastes. But given the magnitude of evaluating so many variables, Matthews knew he could never hope to accomplish his pesto quest alone. Besides, who would believe him anyway? What was called for was a group of people of taste; a group dedicated to the pursuit of pesto perfection. And the sip-taste protocol had the potential to transform the process into a pleasant event (translate “party”). Thus, the “Better Basil Bureau” was born.
On Saturday, August 14, 1993, the first sixteen members were inducted, bringing their membership dues of a bottle of wine and a basil-related dish to share. Seventeen pestos were evaluated, representing nine basil varieties, walnuts vs. pine nuts and extra-virgin vs. “standard” olive oil. Evaluation forms were completed, the wines and culinary treats were enjoyed and the membership proclaimed it as great fun. It was over a month later before all the data were tallied and it was determined that lemon basil was favored, walnuts were preferred to pine nuts and olive oil quality didn’t matter. Rob Holzberg coined “PestoMania”, Dick Buel drew up Buel’s Rules to simplify the scoring and Matthews developed a spreadsheet to provide quicker results. But it was three years before results were available right away. Today, voting has been greatly simplified: beans are dropped into numbered holes in the “Better Basil Bureau Bean Ballot Box” to express tasters’ preferences. As soon as tasting ends, “bean counters” produce the winners.
Held every year in mid-August, when basil is at its peak, PestoMania has evolved into an enthusiastic pesto competition and herb-related food-fest in a garden party setting. Pestos are submitted to the “Pesto Police” where they are transferred to identical containers and numbered. Even the contributor doesn’t know the number of the pesto s/he submitted. And for the last few years, the Better Basil Bureau has invited renowned vineyards to PestoMania to present wines that enhance the pesto experience.
After the Better Basil Bureau Bean Counter discloses the winning pesto numbers and the Pesto Police identify the contributors, to thundering applause, the winners describe their entries, revealing the secrets of the ingredients. Imagine: anchovies, ginger, spinach, zahtar. Against a classical string quartet, jazz combo or a bluegrass group background, members linger to enjoy the glow well into the evening.
Has the perfect pesto been discovered yet? “We’re still working on that”, says Matthews, “but we have discovered the perfect pesto party”.