The Pasta was Barilla Gemelli or Girandole. The pesto was mixed with starchy pasta-water to try and create a creamy emulsion that would coat the pasta better.
### Ratings
Each pesto is compared in these categories:
- taste: how it tasted
- consistency: How was the consistency, did it form a proper emulsion with the pasta water
- ingredients: what's in it, how much of it, and how is it
- price: how expensive is this pesto
- size: how much is in the glass
## The actual reviews:
### Bernbacher "Pesto Calabrese"
*Date:* 2022-08-02
*Eaten with:* Gemelli.
*ingredients:* Red and yellow peppers (52%), Sunflower oil, Grana Padano Cheese (7%), Almonds (4.7%), Potato flakes, Salt, Lactic acid, spices.
| Category | Rating / Value |
|-------------|----------------|
| taste | 1/5 |
| consistency | 2/5 |
| ingredients | 3/5 |
| price | ??? |
| size | 140g |
*notes:* This pesto lacked the spicieness I expect from a calabrese pesto. It was not spicy at all, in fact it had a very mild taste. In the context of pesto you could even say it did not taste like much at all. It also did not form the best emulsion and had a grainy texture, presumably from the shredded almonds. Adding Sriracha to it significantly improved the flavour. Make of that what you wish. This is not really surprising, as this pesto consists of around 30% sunflower oil, without a main ingredient carrying much taste (peppers). It's definitely a below-average to bad pesto.
*notes:* This is the classic, creamy, supermarket "Pesto a la Genovese" but vegan (and even more creamy). The taste is a 5/5, it has every element you'd expect from a "Pesto a la Genovese", even though it definitely isn't, as it's missing pine nuts and Parmesan cheese. The taste is one thing, but I definitely can't understate how well it reacted to the pasta water (probably due to the modified starches). It was superbly creamy throughout and coated even the more challenging Gemelli beautifully. Sure, it could have better ingredients (more olive oil, better nuts) but you can't argue with the result. Therefore it deserves the full 5 star rating.
*notes:* This pesto tasted pretty good, although I missed the creaminess of the cheese (as there is almost no cheese at all in this pesto, and nothing to replace it). There was a considerable ammount of visible fibers, almost looking like straw-fibres. Even though it contains a lot of oil, it still coated the paste well and did not separate when I added the pasta water. This pesto definitely has a more "traditional" or "organic" look to it, but it can't quite pull it off. I rate it four out of five stars.
*notes:* This is a good pesto. It might be a little bit more salty than the vegan option, so keep that in mind when salting your noodles, but I'd argue it's comparably to the vegan pesto in all regards. In my opinion, the vegan version tastes a little bit better, but that's only marginally. It's as creamy as you'd expect from a "real" pesto alla genovese, (not as much as the vegan version, but to be honest, that's not a realistic benchmark). My only real issue with this pesto is oily it is, but luckily this doesn't really impact flavour or consistency. Of course it's missing the pine nuts, but to be hones, I didn't really notice.
*notes:* This seems like a good pesto on paper. Basil, real pine nuts, Parmiggiano Reggiano, olive oil. But that's only on paper. I guess that they can do this due to just low quality ingredients. It's straw-y, salty, a little to oily and has a lot of whole pine nuts in it (I know that they are in there, stop showing me them! I want them incorporated into the pesto!). Sadly, this pesto ain't it chief. But then again, it could be a lot worse.
*notes:* This is a saucy, creamy, tangy, fruity, and sweet pesto masterpiece. You can even put it on bread just fine. It's that good! The easiest five-star raiting so far!
