To many people, there is something about Italian cuisine that is wonderful, comforting, and satisfying. However, though we may love the food, sometimes we miss the premise behind it – something gets lost in translation. A perfect example of this is one of the favourite Italian antipasti dishes that can be found on menus around the world: bruschetta.
Order this dish at almost any standard Italian restaurant outside of Italy and you will receive a mouth-watering appetizer tray filled with toasted bread, sliced thinly and at an angle, topped with olive oil, diced/chopped tomatoes, and cheese that has been slightly broiled. Unfortunately, you are eating a tasty embellishment.
Coming from the post-classical Latin verb in the Roman dialect, bruscare, which means “to toast,” bruschetta (correctly pronounced broo-sket-ta), in its most basic and humble translation, is the Italian term for “toasted bread.”
Originating in ancient Rome as a means for sampling the freshly-pressed olive oils- which is still a main usage for classic bruschetta- what we have to associate with bruschetta did not really originate until the Middle Ages.
Though bruschetta had been continually eaten since Roman times, by the Middle Ages, it had started to change. Initially, the bread began to be rubbed with garlic, and it was not long until it began to be topped with regional ingredients, such as cured meats, cheeses, vegetables, and beans, much in the same way that bread plates called trenchers were being used in Northern Europe.
Regarding what we typically think of as bruschetta, while it does have an Italian connection in bruschetta pomodoro (tomato bruschetta), our (foreign) version mostly just consists of “typically Italian” ingredients (e.g. cheese, tomatoes, basil, garlic, and onion) and is, in actuality, more like another Italian toasted bread dish, crostini.
The first known usage of the word in English came from Elizabeth David’s Italian Food cookbook in 1954, which, in seeking to introduce non-Italians to the diversity of Italian regional cuisine, states that: “In the districts of Tuscany and Umbria which produce olive oil, the bruschetta are eaten with the newly made oil.” A November 1989 issue of Cook’s Magazine seeks to illustrate the simple elegance of bruschetta by suggesting: “Make(ing) bruschetta by brushing some of the pepper-oil over garlic-rubbed toasts, top with strips of pepper, and sprinkle with capers.”
Still, no matter how fancy or simple and regardless of what ingredients you use, enjoy your bruschetta!
