Soup au Pistou at Chez Leon St. Louis, Missouri, September 2006

Pistou sauce, or just pistou, is a cold sauce made from cloves of garlic, fresh basil, and olive oil. Some more modern versions of the recipe include grated parmesan, pecorino or similar hard cheeses. Traditionally, the ingredients are crushed and mixed together in a mortar with a pestle, (pistou means pounded in the Provençal language).^[1] It is often confused with pesto with which it shares some of the same ingredients, the key difference being absence of pinoli (pine nuts), from pistou.^[2] It is a typical condiment from the Provence region of France that can be served with pasta dishes or as a spread for bread. But it is most often associated with the Provencal dish Soupe au Pistou, a minestrone like summer soup that includes white beans, green beans, tomatoes, summer squash, potatoes, and vermicelli. These ingredients can be left out or replaced as long as the soup's golden rule about summer vegetables is followed. Thus Pistou soup is not made with, for example, leeks. Some recipes incorporate the pistou into the soup just before serving. ^[3] Others recommend offering the sauce at the table to be added after the soup is served.^[4]

Both pistou and pesto probably share the same origins. The Roman poet Virgil describes a sauce of crushed herbs, garlic, salt, and olive oil.^[1] A version with pinoli emerged around Genoa to become pesto, while pistou evolved in the areas around Nice.

Some regions, especially those closer to the Alps, substitute Swiss cheese in the place of parmesan. Whatever cheese is used, it is preferred that it not be a "stringy" cheese, so that when it melts in a hot liquid (like in the pistou soup, for instance) it does not melt into long strands.

[edit] See also

• Pesto
• Persillade

[edit] External links

• Soupe au Pistou, Wolfgang Puck
• Soupe au Pistou, Paula Wolfert

[edit] Notes