The queen of pesto is 86-year-old Alfonsina Trucco, winner of the Pesto World Championships, held in Genoa last Saturday.
The competition, which took place inside Palazzo Ducale, saw 100 participants from all over the world compete to make the best pesto in 40 minutes, using the original Genoese recipe and traditional method of grinding with a wooden pestle and marble mortar.
Alfonsina, who had competed in all five previous editions placing among the ten finalists three times, was awarded the Pestello D’Oro (Golden Pestle). She used a large, 150-year-old mortar, passed on from mother to daughter for five generations, and a large double pestle.
Alfonsina works in the family trattoria Rosin, in Montoggio (Genoa), where she specializes in pesto al mortaio.
