Where to get the best fresh pesto in Ed?

[Max0001]

Originally Posted by Polwarth

They used to make their own on the premises... but...

Why not make your own?

Basil, pine nuts, olive oil...
VOILA.

Looks like I'll have to. At £4 a jar, the bought stuff wasn't
worth it! Even to a pesto junkie like me!

[Polwarth]

By the time you buy enough basil, add the pine nuts and buy a really good EVOO - it'll cost you all of 4 quid, but you'll be able to make a larger batch,.

[Lachlan09]

Ahhhh I miss Valvona & Crolla so much !

When I was a little boy in Musselburgh in the very early 1960’s, my dad used to take my brother and me up to Edinburgh to deliver lampshades he’d made for Binns, or go to Spicers up the High Street for coils of wire to make the next batch of lampshades with. On the way back, he’d stop off at Valvona in Elm Row to get us a treat, usually a big square each of thick pizza off the big tray. The aroma in the place was so magic and all the Italian hams, salamis and sausages hanging from the ceiling, plus the fresh Italian bread, bottles and cans of extra virgin olive oil and freshly ground coffee really made my Saturday afternoon ! I loved that place ! Italian in those days was so exotic – Scottish housewives couldn’t plop open a bottle of sauce from Asda like nowadays to make Spaghetti Bolognese. In fact, Scottish housewives couldn’t make Spaghetti Bolognese. The nearest was a lame (yet curiously tasty) SpagBol out of a Heinz tin (it was brown and had mince in it, as opposed to the cans of red sauce Heinz Spaghetti and Spag Loops).

Apart from the numerous chippies, back then Musselburgh had lovely Italian cafés which were very much part of the community. Tesoro’s in North High St, Fisherrow, was a typical seaside ice cream/café found in most coastal towns. Luca’s (or Di Luca’s) was (and is) a popular café/ice cream parlour in the High St, near the race-course. Their ice-cream was creamy and delicious (in strawberry and vanilla) and was popular with tourists and race-goers, as well as locals. For me, the best of all was Di Rollo’s, in Bridge St and connected to the Hayweights Cinema. It was a café/ice cream parlour with class. It was carpeted and had posh tables and chairs. They even had a lady in a waitress uniform come round with a trolley with wee iced cakes on it. Their ice cream was the best and came in a whole battery of creamy flavours, such as vanilla, strawberry, mint-choc-chip, banana, coffee etc etc etc. (remember this was 1962 when most places only did vanilla and perhaps strawberry). Coffee and bananas were my favourites. I would put their banana splits and Knickerbocker Glories up against the best in the country at that time. Even their Dairylea/tomato sandwiches were posh (pan bread cut into triangles). My mum used to take me there for a treat !

BTW Is the ristorante Bar Roma still there in the West End ? It used to be down an alleyway just off Queensferry St near House of Fraser. I used to hang out there sometimes after work with mates, to eat and coif down some vino ! I used to love their Pasta E Fagioli and Scallopine alla Marsala !

How about Bar Italia ? My mates and I would sometimes go there for pizza if we weren’t going to Buster Browns or some other disco. I preferred it to Dario’s. Pizza and the Scottish winter didn’t go together well at all. I remember a Dario’s takeaway pizza one old night. It wasn’t cut up and a mate tried to take a wee bite out of the whole thing. The mozzarella layer came right of the pizza in one big disc ! It has solidified it the cold air ! With the bit he’s bitten into still in his mouth, he looked like a pet dog holding a Frisbee ! LOL

[Max0001]

Originally Posted by Lachlan09

Ahhhh I miss Valvona & Crolla so much !

When I was a little boy in Musselburgh in the very early 1960’s, my dad used to take my brother and me up to Edinburgh to deliver lampshades he’d made for Binns, or go to Spicers up the High Street for coils of wire to make the next batch of lampshades with. On the way back, he’d stop off at Valvona in Elm Row to get us a treat, usually a big square each of thick pizza off the big tray. The aroma in the place was so magic and all the Italian hams, salamis and sausages hanging from the ceiling, plus the fresh Italian bread, bottles and cans of extra virgin olive oil and freshly ground coffee really made my Saturday afternoon ! I loved that place ! Italian in those days was so exotic – Scottish housewives couldn’t plop open a bottle of sauce from Asda like nowadays to make Spaghetti Bolognese. In fact, Scottish housewives couldn’t make Spaghetti Bolognese. The nearest was a lame (yet curiously tasty) SpagBol out of a Heinz tin (it was brown and had mince in it, as opposed to the cans of red sauce Heinz Spaghetti and Spag Loops).

Apart from the numerous chippies, back then Musselburgh had lovely Italian cafés which were very much part of the community. Tesoro’s in North High St, Fisherrow, was a typical seaside ice cream/café found in most coastal towns. Luca’s (or Di Luca’s) was (and is) a popular café/ice cream parlour in the High St, near the race-course. Their ice-cream was creamy and delicious (in strawberry and vanilla) and was popular with tourists and race-goers, as well as locals. For me, the best of all was Di Rollo’s, in Bridge St and connected to the Hayweights Cinema. It was a café/ice cream parlour with class. It was carpeted and had posh tables and chairs. They even had a lady in a waitress uniform come round with a trolley with wee iced cakes on it. Their ice cream was the best and came in a whole battery of creamy flavours, such as vanilla, strawberry, mint-choc-chip, banana, coffee etc etc etc. (remember this was 1962 when most places only did vanilla and perhaps strawberry). Coffee and bananas were my favourites. I would put their banana splits and Knickerbocker Glories up against the best in the country at that time. Even their Dairylea/tomato sandwiches were posh (pan bread cut into triangles). My mum used to take me there for a treat !

BTW Is the ristorante Bar Roma still there in the West End ? It used to be down an alleyway just off Queensferry St near House of Fraser. I used to hang out there sometimes after work with mates, to eat and coif down some vino ! I used to love their Pasta E Fagioli and Scallopine alla Marsala !

How about Bar Italia ? My mates and I would sometimes go there for pizza if we weren’t going to Buster Browns or some other disco. I preferred it to Dario’s. Pizza and the Scottish winter didn’t go together well at all. I remember a Dario’s takeaway pizza one old night. It wasn’t cut up and a mate tried to take a wee bite out of the whole thing. The mozzarella layer came right of the pizza in one big disc ! It has solidified it the cold air ! With the bit he’s bitten into still in his mouth, he looked like a pet dog holding a Frisbee ! LOL

Uhhhhhh........pesto?