Pesto became a staple in the Ligurian culinary tradition, with each family often featuring its own pesto recipe (with slight differences to the traditional ingredients). This is the main reason why pesto recipes often differ from each other. In 1944, "The New York Times" mentioned an imported canned pesto paste. In 1946, "Sunset" magazine published a pesto recipe by Angelo Pellegrini. Pesto did not become popular in North America until the 1980s and 1990s. Pesto is traditionally prepared in a marble mortar with a wooden pestle. First, garlic and pine nuts are placed in the mortar and reduced to a cream,
Bertucci's 36 stores. In 1994, it expanded to Atlanta, Georgia; Chicago; Orlando, Florida; and New Jersey. Bertucci’s had 63 stores by 1995. A $10.4 million wrongful death lawsuit against Bertucci's was filed in July 1995. Janet Walker, of Salem, New Hampshire, went into anaphylactic shock and then slipped into a coma after ingesting pesto sauce that contained nuts. The waitress, according to the lawsuit, failed to mention the nuts. A week later, Walker died. The case never went to trial. Joey Crugnale attempted to take the chain private again in 1998, but though the board approved his attempt, he was outbid.