Maggie's Farm

Everybody loves the taste of basil. My father-in-law likes to just take a leaf and munch it up, and so do I.

In Sicily, we discovered that their popular pestos are Parsley-Walnut Pesto and Pistachio Pesto. No basil. "Pesto" does not mean Basil.

It's all good stuff, good condiments for food. For meat, mainly.

Sicilian cheese is not very tasty, but I'll put in a free plug for the northern Italian Asiago. A fine hard cheese, and they now have it at Costco.

I tend to prefer stinky softer cheeses for dessert with a slice of fruit or some fruit preserves, but with an antipasto I don't mind hard cheeses. My favorite hard cheese? 6-month-old (ie young, before it gets grating-hard) Parmesan. Can't buy it in the US as far as I know. Second favorite? Pecorino. Third favorite? Dubliner. Now Asiago competing. I have yet to find an American cheddar that can compete with these things, but it might exist somewhere. A grandfather-in-law used to say "All good things come from Italy."

Ricotta Salata is good too, drizzled with some honey and sprinkled with chopped pistachio, but dog kibbles would be good with that too.