Lucio Galetto owner of Sydney’s Lucio restaurant show us how to prepare an Italian dish which highlights fresh produce – broad bean pesto on crostini, or salsa marò. This dish can only be done with fresh raw broad beans, and their short season makes it really special. I have to confess that the topping originated in “the other Riviera”, west of Genoa, but they could not keep the secret for long. Salsa marò has spread all over Liguria.
Like many Ligurian dialect words, the name marò comes from the Arabs, who paid many visits to our coastline over the centuries. Their word “mar-a” meant condiment or sauce, and this one was prepared mainly to give the sailors, who made daily journeys up and down the Riviera, something to spread over their bread.