Pistou? Pesto? Neither?
The first of a three part post
I have two habits: structural cooking and making breakfast sandwiches that are too expensive to ever sell in WNY.
I think of structural cooking as recognizing the components of a recipe, how they come together, how they can be taken apart, and substituting what you have to achieve a similar, albeit new, outcome.
I liked algebra.
Pistou is a raw sauce from the Provencal region in France. Pesto, as you most likely know, is raw sauce from the Genoa region in Italy. Both traditionally use basil, garlic, and oil. The Italians add pine nuts and hard cheese, the French do not.
The sauce I made has an arugula base and a few extra additions.
Arugula Pistou (v/gf)
1 bunch of arugula
1 tsp salt
3 cloves of garlic
A few olives (I had three Castelvetrano olives left)
1 tsp brine
1/2 c olive oil
Rough chop the arugula. Smash and rough chop the garlic cloves. Throw everything except the olive oil in a food processor and pulse.
You will need to scrap down the sides a few times.
Once things are roughly combined, turn the processor on and slowly add the oil.
Stop, scrap, taste. Does it need more salt? More liquid? If the answer to both of these questions is yes, try more brine a teaspoon at a time.
It should taste aggressive. The heat from the arugula, the announcement that is raw garlic, and the saltiness from the olives and brine should all be yelling in your mouth. It’ll calm down overnight.
Give it a final scrap, make sure you like the taste and consistency and you are all set.
Yes, there is a difference between using a food processor and a mortar and pestle. No, it’s not that important to me. I am in a first-ring suburb of Buffalo, not a Nonna in Nervi.
Besides, what is more important to me is the quality of the arugula. I am fortunate that I found a source for arugula in WNY. At The Root Down Farm the arugula is large-leafed and peppery. Like most agricultural products that gain traction with a wide swath of people, we are starting to breed out would made these products appealing in the first place — the heat of arugula, the bitterness of grapefruit. I’m not against breeding plants for particular taste profiles, but I am against the flattening of culinary options, which has the long term effect of flattening cultures.
I know, you’re thinking I can do all this, but what do I do with it once I make it?
First off, in two weeks there’ll be a recipe that incorporates this in a fancy entree that’ll make you feel like all the work has been worth it. Second of all, anywhere you’d use pesto.
Pesto and eggs are great friends, and this pistou is no different.
To that end, here are two breakfast sandwiches.
Peameal bacon (here are my shopping search results for those not local) is a specialty of Ontario, Canada. It’s lean since it is made from the loin and is a cured meat crusted in cornmeal. It makes a great sandwich and is a wonderful alternative to bacon. It cooks up fast since it has been cured and is easier to clean up as it isn’t greasy.
Cut your roll in half and add a bit of olive oil and place it cut-side down in a pan large enough to hold the three pieces of bacon you’re going to fry. After a few minutes on the first side, flip the bacon. Layer the first two slices to be about the size of your roll, add a slice of cheese to the two, and place the third slice over the top.
Remove the roll and smear with pistou. Remove the bacon and cheese stack from the pan. Place the stack on the bottom half of the roll. Eat.
The second sandwich is much fancier in appearance, but is still just dairy, pork, sauce, and bread with the addition of an egg.
Beat an egg or two (your choice) with a generous pinch of salt and set aside. If you wait around 15 minutes the eggs will get noticeably darker in color and be more tender after you cook them. It isn’t horribly important, but since you need to gather other ingredients, you may as well do the eggs first then get everything else.
On Sundays my wife and I take our daughter to Miller’s Thumb Bakery. WNY has had something of a bakery renaissance over the last few years, with Miller’s Thumb being one of the newest, and closest. It also is, in my opinion, one of the best. Turns out milling your own flour leads to a fresher product but also greater quality control.
We go, we have breakfast, and I usually bring a few things home for use throughout the week. Yesterday I grabbed a piece of olive and peppadew focaccia. This sandwich would be just fine on a roll like the previous one. Or a bagel. Or or or.
I sliced the bread in half, put a slice of cheese on the bottom half, and put it in the toaster oven on a low setting. I mention the low setting because I generally like my toasted things well toasted. Focaccia is an exception. A slight crisp and melted cheese is all I want here.
When the cycle is over, leave the bread in the toaster so it doesn’t cool as quickly.
I wanted the additional flavor of olive oil, so I oiled my egg skillet. Pour in the mixture, fry on one side until set on the bottom and flip.
Shortly after flipping — less than a minute — i folded the egg scramble to be roughly the size of the focaccia.
Will that is finishing, I placed in the skillet two pieces of speck, folded in half the long way. Again, any kind of pork works here (prosciutto, ham, bacon) so work with what you have/what you want.
Once that is done, remove the pan from heat.
Grab your sandwich set from the toaster. Places the eggs on the cheese. Put some pistou on the eggs. Place the speck on top and finish with the other slice of focaccia. Eat.
In addition to these sandwiches, the pistou is a great way to finish nearly anything that comes off the grill, protein or veg. It also makes a wonderful dip with some yogurt. I like a garlic-forward dip, so try a 50/50 ratio with the yogurt and adjust from there. Making a soup? A generous dollop of pistou would be a nice stir in. Same goes for most pasta dishes — a contrasting dollop on tomato sauce would be great.
***
It’s only over the last year that I’ve developed an appreciation for The Brian Jonestown Massacre. Psych/surf at it’s finest. I love the way they tune their guitars. Not much to add, really, other than give it a listen if you haven’t.
In addition to “Pish” “Straight Up and Down” was the theme to HBO’s Boardwalk Empire. “Mary Please” is also a great track to drive to the beach to.
See you soon with part two in this as-of-yet-unnamed trilogy of posts.
today I learned that I have been making pistous for years.
I read your substack religiously. It’s fantastic