I don’t know how Pesto, the combination of Basil, garlic, nuts and cheese came into being. Reading cook books and newspaper articles and listening to Italian Cooking show hosts it seems that Basil was something of a sacred herb around the Mediterranean and in times long past only religious figures of some importance were allowed to pick it; it’s been said that the very name Basil comes from the same root as Basilica which as far as I remember means something like ‘the big churc...