Photo courtesy of Tim Sword
Canova makes his pesto at the Columbus Italian Festival competition.
Who makes the best pesto in the world? A Victorian Village resident and professor at The Ohio State University hopes it’s him.
Back in the fall, Greater Columbus Sister Cities International (GCSCI) worked with the Columbus Italian Festival to hold a regional qualifying contest for the 2018 Pesto World Championship in Genoa, Italy.
“We had 10 competitors with different backgrounds, including chefs, culinary students and plain pesto enthusiasts,” says Sameen Dadfar, program manager for GCSCI.
Vying to make the best pesto sauce, contestants were given 30 minutes, seven ingredients and a mortar and wooden pestle.
“While there are only seven ingredients, very small differences in the quality of the ingredients, quantity of each ingredient and order of addition of the ingredient lead to a world of differences in the final product,” says Marcello Canova.
Canova, originally from Mantua, Italy, was crowned champion and will represent Columbus at the world championships on March 17.
To the average person, preparing a great pesto isn’t rocket science. But to Canova, it may be; he’s an associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at OSU.
Photo courtesy of Tim Sword
Contestants prepare to test their mettle at the Columbus Italian Festival Qualifier in the fall.
During a trip to Italy, a former professor informed Canova of the yearly Genoa World Pesto Competition. After returning to the states, Canova received a package from his professor that contained an original mortar and wooden pestle.
“As I started to make a few batches of pesto, I browsed on the Internet to get more information and trivia on the Pesto World Championship, and from there I found a link to the Columbus Pesto Championship,” says Canova.
Canova describes the competition in Columbus as “fierce,” since his competitors were professional chefs and food enthusiasts. He was shocked to find his pesto in the final selection and is thrilled to travel to Genoa this March in hopes of making another winning creation.
“In the meantime, I've been practicing a few times with different types of ingredients to try and understand their influences,” Canova says. “Was it pure luck, or have I actually got some talent for it? I guess we’ll find out in Genoa.”
Laura Baird is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
