Pesto Genovese
Pesto Genovese is a Ligurian uncooked basil sauce pounded with garlic, pine nuts, salt, hard cheeses and olive oil, traditionally made in a mortar.
Recipes
1504 records with their sources, across 11 categories.
Fermented, enzyme-ripened and mixed seasonings328
Fruit preserves10
Legume, seed and plant-protein ferments10
Garum and fish sauces8
Adjacent and excluded7
Koji, mold starters and mold-ripened ferments4
Acid and oil pickles3
Fermented fruit and fruit-derived foods3
Vegetable lactic3
Dairy ferments2
Smoked salted and dried foods2
Cheese1
Not yet classified1
All condiments382Fermented, enzyme-ripened and mixed seasonings328Fruit preserves10Legume, seed and plant-protein ferments10Garum and fish sauces8Adjacent and excluded7Koji, mold starters and mold-ripened ferments4Acid and oil pickles3Fermented fruit and fruit-derived foods3Vegetable lactic3Dairy ferments2Smoked salted and dried foods2Cheese1Not yet classified1
Fermented, enzyme-ripened and mixed seasonings328Fruit preserves10Legume, seed and plant-protein ferments10Garum and fish sauces8Adjacent and excluded7Koji, mold starters and mold-ripened ferments4Acid and oil pickles3Fermented fruit and fruit-derived foods3Vegetable lactic3Dairy ferments2Smoked salted and dried foods2Cheese1Not yet classified1Filtered to
Recipes
Tapenade (Marseille)
A Provençal olive spread built around olives and capers, with anchovy, garlic, lemon and olive oil in Marseille’s current recipe. Both coarse and finely worked versions are documented.
Fresh ponzu-shoyu
This fresh ponzu-shoyu mixes Japanese koikuchi soy sauce with yuzu or a lemon-lime blend, rice vinegar, water and sugar; optional kombu and bonito give a short chilled infusion.
Byzantine murrī
Byzantine murrī is a cooked imitation of murrī from the medieval Arabic repertoire, made from scorched honey, toasted bread, walnuts, quince, carob and spices rather than from a long grain fermentation.
Kakisu (persimmon vinegar)
Japanese vinegar from ripe persimmons: yeast turns the fruit sugar to alcohol and acetic bacteria turn that to acid; made at home in a month and by makers in Wakayama and Nagasaki over several years.
Ají de tomate de árbol
An Ecuadorian hot sauce built on tamarillo, a tart fruit that gives a sharper, fleshier base than ordinary tomato salsa.
Elevated risk
Toum
Toum is a Lebanese garlic-and-oil emulsion: raw garlic, salt, lemon and a little water are processed into a dense, pale, egg-free sauce. Slow oil addition builds its fluffy texture; it is served with grilled foods, sandwiches and mezze.
Talatouri (Cypriot tzatziki)
The Cypriot form of tzatziki: strained yogurt and grated cucumber with garlic, finished with mint and lemon juice where the Greek version uses dill and vinegar.
Salsa macha
Salsa macha is a Mexican chile-and-oil condiment, often coarse with garlic, peanuts and sesame; this version follows a documented gentle-cook method and stays refrigerated.
Allam pachadi
An Andhra ginger-and-urad chutney in which browned dal and briefly fried ginger and chillies are cooled, then ground with jaggery to a coarse paste.
Japanese mayonnaise
A one-cup Japanese mayonnaise batch made in a small food processor with pasteurized room-temperature egg yolks and oil added in three stages around the seasonings and acids.
Lechon sauce with canned liver spread
A cooked Filipino roast-meat sauce thickened from canned liver spread, vinegar, water, sugar and breadcrumbs, with browned garlic and softened onion.
Pounded Thai chilli vinegar
Pailin Chongchitnant's fresh prik nam som card pounds two or three Thai chillies, optionally with garlic, before stirring in white vinegar; charring is a separate optional step.
Pinđur (pindjur)
A Balkan relish of roasted red peppers and tomatoes, often with aubergine and garlic, cooked down into a spread for the winter store.
Elevated risk
Hot sauce (fermented pepper)
Fresh hot peppers ferment beneath a measured salt brine, then become a bright, tangy sauce blended from the peppers and their liquor.
Guasacaca
Guasacaca is a Venezuelan green sauce of avocado, herbs, sweet pepper and onion, sharpened with vinegar or lime. It is served with grilled meat, arepas and empanadas.
Daqua peanut dressing
A smooth dressing of peanut butter, oil and lime, tossed into a Sudanese-style tomato salad and served at once.
Caesar dressing (Vitamix version)
A source-specific Caesar dressing made with pasteurized egg yolks, Parmesan, lemon, anchovy, garlic, mustard and olive oil. This modern Vitamix formulation is distinct from the salad’s disputed 1924 origin accounts.
Elevated risk
Bagna cauda
A warm dip of garlic, anchovy and olive oil, often enriched with butter, that Piedmont serves over a flame with raw and cooked vegetables and bread.
Tzatziki
A cold dip, soup or sauce of strained yogurt, cucumber and garlic, eaten across Greece, Turkey and the wider Balkans and Levant under names that include cacık and tarator.
Tirokafteri
A Greek spread of feta cheese and hot chilli, sometimes with roasted peppers, yogurt or oregano, eaten with warm pita as part of a meze.
Pol sambol
A Sri Lankan coconut relish made from grated coconut, aromatics, chilli, lime and optional Maldive fish; a seasoned paste is folded through the coconut by hand.
New Mexican red chile sauce
New Mexican red chile sauce is a smooth, cooked sauce of dried red chile, thickened with a little flour and loosened with water, and used to coat enchiladas and to build chile con carne.
Elevated risk
Italian salsa verde
A cold parsley sauce of capers, anchovy, garlic, olive oil and vinegar, with bread or egg in some regional versions, served across Italy with boiled meats and fish.
Hogao
A slow-cooked Colombian sauce of tomato, onion and scallion that serves as the base of many dishes and as a topping for arepas and patacones.
Gribiche
A cold French sauce of emulsified hard-boiled egg yolk and mustard, finished with chopped pickled cucumber, capers and herbs and julienned egg white.
Achiote paste
A Yucatecan recado rojo is a brick-red seasoning paste built on annatto seed, garlic and sour orange. This measured home version shows one route into a much wider family of market and household recados.
Taramosalata
A meze of salted cured fish roe, most often cod, beaten with olive oil, lemon juice and a starchy base of bread or potato, from Greece and the eastern Mediterranean.
Smoked salt
Flaky or coarse sea salt takes on hickory smoke in a pellet grill. A shallow tray lets the smoke reach the crystals before they cool for airtight storage.
Citrus salt
Citrus zest is rubbed into coarse or flake salt and dried on a tray. This peel-based seasoning preserves the chosen citrus aroma without adding juice.
Remoulade (French)
A French cold sauce made from mayonnaise with mustard, capers, cornichons and fresh herbs, served with fish, shellfish and red meats.
Green-chilli and peanut thecha
A fresh Maharashtrian thecha of green chillies, peanuts and garlic, roasted separately in the same oil and crushed with salt. Optional coriander joins the pan before grinding; serve with bhakari.
Nam jim seafood
A Thai seafood dipping sauce of chiles, garlic, cilantro stems, fish sauce, lime juice and palm sugar, pounded or briefly blended for a coarse texture.
Elevated risk
Mojo verde
A green sauce of garlic, cumin, green chilli and fresh coriander or parsley in olive oil and vinegar, traditionally served with fish in the Canary Islands.
Chancho en piedra
Chancho en piedra is a Chilean sauce of tomato, garlic, cumin and chilli, ground by hand in a stone mortar. Its name refers to the stone, not to pork.
Ají picante (Colombian table ají)
A fresh Colombian table condiment of chopped herbs, scallion and tomato in a vinegar and chile base, served beside fried and filled dishes.
Ají de uchuvas
A sweet, tart and spicy Colombian sauce of uchuva, the yellow physalis fruit, with hot pepper, scallion, cilantro and lime.
Fragrant herb salt
Fresh garlic and pungent herbs are chopped with kosher salt, then dried in the warmth of a switched-off oven. The blend keeps the selected herbs together in one seasoning.
Ecuadorian salsa de maní
A warm, creamy peanut sauce thickened with milk and seasoned with onion, cumin and achiote, served over potatoes and llapingachos in Ecuador.
Anchoiade
A Provencal dip of anchovies, garlic, capers and olive oil, pounded or blended to a creamy paste and served with raw vegetables, bread and eggs.
Hilbeh (fenugreek foam)
A whipped condiment of soaked ground fenugreek seed, aerated until foamy and finished with herbs, chilli and lemon. It comes from Yemen.
High risk
Padaek
Padaek is a Lao salt-fermented freshwater fish paste used as a seasoning and preserved food. This record covers documented uses and safety gaps; it does not offer an unvalidated home method.
Soy sauce
Soy sauce is a salted liquid seasoning made by growing koji mould on soybeans and grain, maturing the mash in brine and pressing out the liquid. Japan's shoyu is the best-documented form.
Bazhe (walnut sauce base)
A Georgian walnut sauce of ground walnuts, garlic, vinegar and spices, thinned with water or broth. It is served with poultry, vegetables and bread, and is the sauce of the dish satsivi.
High risk
Mushroom garum (koji garum)
Mushroom garum is a savoury, smoked sauce made by crushing mushrooms with salt and rice koji and letting the mixture brew for months, a modern use of the garum method without fish.
High risk
Tucupi negro
Tucupi negro is a dark, pungent sauce that Amazonian Indigenous women make by pressing bitter cassava, settling its starch and simmering the juice for hours until it thickens.
Salsa de ajo (Venezuelan garlic sauce)
Salsa de ajo is a creamy Venezuelan garlic sauce made from mayonnaise blended with fresh garlic, herbs, green onion and vinegar. It is served with empanadas, arepas and grilled meat.
Wine Vinegar
Wine vinegar is made by the aerobic oxidation of wine's alcohol into acetic acid by bacteria, producing a sour, wine-derived condiment used in dressings, sauces, marinades and preserved foods.
Elevated risk
Tartare sauce
A mayonnaise sauce with chopped gherkins or capers, herbs and lemon, served with fried and grilled fish. It was named in nineteenth-century France alongside steak tartare.
Ocopa
Ocopa is a sauce from Arequipa, Peru, of huacatay, dried mirasol chillies, nuts, fresh cheese and soda crackers. It is usually spooned over boiled potatoes.