Bruschetta
Encyclopedia
Antipasto
Antipasto , means "before the meal" and is the traditional first course of a formal Italian meal. Traditional antipasto includes cured meats, olives, roasted garlic, peperoncini, mushrooms, anchovies, artichoke hearts, various cheeses...
from Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
whose origin dates to at least the 15th century. It consists of roasted bread rubbed with garlic
Garlic
Allium sativum, commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion genus, Allium. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, and rakkyo. Dating back over 6,000 years, garlic is native to central Asia, and has long been a staple in the Mediterranean region, as well as a frequent...
and topped with extra-virgin olive oil
Olive oil
Olive oil is an oil obtained from the olive , a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin. It is commonly used in cooking, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and soaps and as a fuel for traditional oil lamps...
, salt and pepper. Variations may include toppings of spicy red pepper
Capsicum
Capsicum is a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family, Solanaceae. Its species are native to the Americas where they have been cultivated for thousands of years, but they are now also cultivated worldwide, used as spices, vegetables, and medicines - and have become are a key element in...
, tomato
Tomato
The word "tomato" may refer to the plant or the edible, typically red, fruit which it bears. Originating in South America, the tomato was spread around the world following the Spanish colonization of the Americas, and its many varieties are now widely grown, often in greenhouses in cooler...
, vegetables, beans, cured meat, or cheese
Cheese
Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms....
; the most popular recipe outside of Italy involves basil
Basil
Basil, or Sweet Basil, is a common name for the culinary herb Ocimum basilicum , of the family Lamiaceae , sometimes known as Saint Joseph's Wort in some English-speaking countries....
, fresh tomato
Tomato
The word "tomato" may refer to the plant or the edible, typically red, fruit which it bears. Originating in South America, the tomato was spread around the world following the Spanish colonization of the Americas, and its many varieties are now widely grown, often in greenhouses in cooler...
, garlic
Garlic
Allium sativum, commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion genus, Allium. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, and rakkyo. Dating back over 6,000 years, garlic is native to central Asia, and has long been a staple in the Mediterranean region, as well as a frequent...
and onion or mozzarella
Mozzarella
Mozzarella is an Italian Traditional Speciality Guaranteed food product. The term is used for several kinds of Italian cheeses that are made using spinning and then cutting :...
. Bruschetta is usually served as a snack or appetizer. In Italy, Bruschetta is often prepared using a brustolina
Brustolina
A brustolina is a grill which fits over a gas burner on a hob. It comprises a square sheet of metal with holes punched in it and a square grid over the top . Heat is applied from below and is evenly distributed by the base, deflected upward to the grid...
grill. In the Abruzzo
Abruzzo
Abruzzo is a region in Italy, its western border lying less than due east of Rome. Abruzzo borders the region of Marche to the north, Lazio to the west and south-west, Molise to the south-east, and the Adriatic Sea to the east...
region of Italy a variation of bruschetta made with a salami called ventricina
Ventricina
Ventricina is a delicatessen item commonly found in the Abruzzo Region of central Italy. It is most similar to what Americans refer to as "cold cuts". Traditionally made using relatively low grade, very fatty meat cuts pig and encasing them in the animal's intestines or stomach while they cure...
is served. Raw pork
Pork
Pork is the culinary name for meat from the domestic pig , which is eaten in many countries. It is one of the most commonly consumed meats worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BC....
products and spices encased in pig bladder
Pig bladder
Pig bladder is the bladder of a domestic pig, similar to the human urinary bladder. Today, this hollow organ has various applications in medicine, and in traditional cuisines and customs...
are aged and the paste spread on open slices of bread which are sometimes grilled. This was a way of salvaging bread that was going stale.
Pronunciation and usage
In Italian, bruschetta is pronounced brusˈkeːtta. In English-speaking countries it is sometimes pronounced bruːˈskɛtə, which more closely resembles the Italian pronunciation, and sometimes the pronunciation is anglicizedAnglicisation
Anglicisation, or anglicization , is the process of converting verbal or written elements of any other language into a form that is more comprehensible to an English speaker, or, more generally, of altering something such that it becomes English in form or character.The term most often refers to...
as bruːˈʃɛtə, even though in Italian the digraph
Following a semantic shift, some Americans use the word bruschetta to refer to the topping instead of the dish. Many grocery store chains in the United States sell bottled "bruschetta," which is typically tomatoes, onion, garlic, and herbs.