Presto pesto

I was feeling like pesto pasta yesterday but didn't really get a chance to find out what the word "basil" was in bahasa til today. After realising that a small jar of pesto would cost me 50k rupiah at foodhall I thought it would be cheaper and healthier for me to make some pesto myself! So off I went to Carrefour for this pasta dish. I went and asked a staff if they sold basil leaves (daun kemanggi) but she looked at me puzzled. I presumed that I hadn't pronounced it properly but after hearing a laugh from a male customer then having him say "basil leaves are food for the poor, you can only get them at the traditional market" then walking off so I decided to try and look for it myself. I finally figured out the basil leaves by smell and happily paid for it - 5k rupiah for a bunch, enough to make a small jar.

I think sometimes Indonesians are so concerned about having expensive taste in food (amongst other things) that they forget to realise that their local produce, as cheap as they are, can make some amazing (and expensive) dishes!


The basil leaves here tastes kind of citrusy so somehow it makes the whole dish taste a bit more tropical. The pesto itself was incredibly easy to make, but I adapted the recipe a little. I used almonds instead of pine nuts because, well I had a bunch of almonds at home and used 5 cloves of garlic instead of 3 which I cooked in a bit of oil. I also don't have a food processor - nor do I know what it is so I used a stab blender that Ulla gave us for our wedding present which worked just as well.