"MARO’"

This is a mysterious sauce: the crushed fresh fava beans may tell us of a very ancient origin and they could be a kind of Darwinian link to the origins of the Pesto sauce, which are as mysterious as the Nile’s source.

The original recipe calls home in the Imperia province. It comes from the inland of that province: from the Intemelie valleys rather than the Ingaune valleys. According to one of the versions of this recipe, what you need is one small garlic clove, two hectograms of shelled and peeled fava beans.

Crush both the garlic and the fava beans in the mortar, add 1 hectogram of cheese (half of it is to be fresh pecorino cheese and the other half Parmigiano Reggiano cheese), add a few mint leaves. This sauce is rather dry, thus dilute with olive oil.

Add the needed amount of salt and pepper.

According to another version of this same recipe the pecorino and Parmigiano Reggiano cheese are to be substituted by a few boneless and salted anchovies. The first version of this sauce is to season roast meat and boiled meat and it is much more delicate than the second.

This recipe comes from the Imperia province.