Because the cuisine of Liguria is not only distinctive and delicious, but also so salutary that the region boasts the longest-lived people in Italy, it is a particularly appropriate destination. Nonetheless, when we sit down to dinner at San Giorgio, a restaurant in Cervo that is among the very best in Liguria, the indisputable healthfulness of the meal is the last thing on our minds. Cooked by the charming owner, Caterina, the fare is simple, but matchless. Equally notable is a homemade pasta crowned with crayfish, turbot, local potatoes, and artichokes. All in all, the meal is a perfect demonstration of why eating local and seasonal food is not only better for the planet, but better for the mouth.
Dinner here is bliss.
It is also a harbinger of what is to come as we explore this region of good eating. But pesto is just one of many herb preparations that characterize the cooking of Liguria, which uses more herbs than any other region in Italy. Some suggest that the centuries-old reason for this culinary preference is the role Genoa played in the spice trade, to which she was once as important as Venice. By the time Ligurian ships arrived home, sailors had grown so sick of the smell of their cargo that they came to favor herbs in their food instead. Liguria's history as a great maritime nation also had numerous other effects on its gastronomy.