4th Edition of the World Pesto Championship

Saturday 17th March, 2012: 4th Edition of the World Pesto Championship

100 Contestants, 10 Finalists

In the Salone del Maggior Consiglio at Palazzo Ducale, a historical palace in Genoa and beating heart of today’s main cultural events and activities, 100 competitors from all over the world will challenge each other with pestle and mortar in the preparation of Genoese Pesto according to traditional methods and using authentic and genuine ingredients.

Each competitor is provided by the organisation with all the ingredients and tools to take part in the competition. A jury of food experts and tasters selects the 10 finalists among the 100 competitors who will challenge each other in the afternoon finals.

The Championship is open to amateur and professional cooks, provided they have reached the age of 18, from any country in the world. Participants, in order of entry, are all registered for the Championship, while the winners of the preliminary rounds held throughout the year all over the world are entitled to take part.

The reigning champion is Federico Ferro, a pharmacist from Sestri Levante, who participated with the old family mortar, “driven by his great passion for cooking.”

Sergio Muto is the winner of the fourth edition of the World Pesto Championship! He’s 58 years old, born in Cosenza (Calabria, Italy) and living in Germany since 1976 where he manages a delicatessen. After winning a Pesto preliminary competition in Stuttgart in 2008, for several years he has specialized in the mortar made pesto, so he actually gives courses on that in Germany.