Bruschetta – simple Italian bread magic

28.04.2023

Toasted slice of ciabatta, garlic, and a droplet of extra virgin olive oil – the admirers of simplicity say it’s enough for a good bruschetta. for hundreds of years bruschettas have been loved for their simplicity and tastefulness. The history of bruschettas reaches to times when the Etruscans living in the area of Rome and Tuscany started toasting leftover bread from the day before, before tossing theses into the oven, they rubbed the bread with garlic cloves and drizzled it with olive oil. Whereas the olive oil had to be as fresh as possible. The oven-fresh bruschettas were enjoyed with wine. Even an Italian proverb says that in order to enjoy the best bruschetta, one has to use one-day-old bread, one-month-old oil and one-year-old wine.

In addition to the oil that definitely had to be the Italian extra virgin olive oil, a key component upon making a good bruschetta was a ripe and juicy tomato. To make a bruschetta topping, they diced the tomatoes and seasoned them with salt and herbs (oregano, basil). Such tradition started a long time ago on the hot tomato fields of Italy where the farmers who were picking tomatoes ate the bread they had brought along and rubbed it with the tomatoes they had picked from the field.

Bruschetta toppings vary from region to region, since in every city it has its own nuances. In Tuscany, they use only garlic and oil, in Napoli they also use tomatoes. In many places in Tuscany they also serve it with meat cuttings: prosciutto, chicken liver or freshly made sausages. Sometimes they offer lard, which so pleasantly melts into the toasted ciabatta. Classic bruschetta toppings also include zucchini, eggplant, mushrooms, bell pepper and several types of cheese that can either be grated or spread on the bread. During the truffle season, gourmands may decorate their bruschettas with a slice of truffle.

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