Bruschetta then and now

"What appeals, what evokes greed, is the scrunch of hot toast soaked in grassy, peppery green olive oil. What intrigues is the timeless simplicity of something made from just bread, garlic and oil. How could something so basic be so good?" Nigel Slater

While I am thinking of tomatoes I thought I would do something on bruschetta - well the first page of the Coles Magazine had a very luscious and modern looking bruschetta so I thought it would make a good post topic, because I know that what is shown below is not a traditional bruschetta.

You can see the contrast between the classic and the new can't you. They are both so absolutely of their kind. Bruschetta, of course, just to start with is pronounced brusketta not brusshetta. That's for starters. In Tuscany it's called Fett'unta but we won't worry about that - it's the same thing. The classic and original bruschetta is charred, (that's important) toasted sourdough kind of bread, rubbed with fresh garlic whilst still warm and with your best olive oil poured over. Modern versions mostly have tomatoes of some kind and sometimes all sorts of other things too.

And really I don't have much more to say and anyway I then found Nigel Slater's article on the perfect bruschetta and wondered why I bother at all with doing this blog. Here is how he starts his article:

"The perfect bruschetta is so much more than just a piece of toast. Though, of course, toast is what it is. At its best, bruschetta will have a rough, crisp surface imbued with the merest hint of garlic. It will be lightly charred at the crusts, and beyond the initial crispness, soft inside, chewy, with a faint yeasty sourness. It is best made with an open-textured bread which has irregular holes to hold the emerald-green olive oil that is poured over as the toast comes from the grill. There should be a few flakes of salt, too - sea salt, barely dissolved in the soft, crisp warmth of it all."

What more can I say?

Well I suppose I can just comment on a few of the examples we see around us today, and in my cookbooks. The one from Coles has the addition of rocket and shaved fennel, and the tomato component is roast cherry tomatoes - which Nigel Slater and most modern day cooks favour too. Oh and the inevitable balsamic vinegar too.

"Some of the more outlandish toppings could be frowned upon, but I'm not sure it matters, if they are really delicious. Neither grilled aubergines nor roast tomatoes seem out of character, though tradition dictates the tomatoes should be skinned and seeded. I call that a tragic waste of flavour and fibre and prefer to roast mine till they begin to burst, then use them seeds, skin and all."

It seems an awful lot of fuss to go to though for what is at heart a very simple thing. And Nigel Slater himself is not immune to the modernisation and tarting up of the original. I checked on Google Images and found quite a few very elaborate dishes that he called bruschetta. The one below is spread with taramasalata and broad beans. Now that really is not at all traditional. Yummy maybe but not what I would call bruschetta. Because for me bruschetta involves tomatoes.

But simple tomatoes. At its simplest - I believe Puglia is famous for this but I am willing to bet that it is the same all around the Mediterranean - the toasted bread is rubbed with a cut and slightly crushed tomato - and then drizzled with olive oil. Now I often have a slice of toast with sliced tomatoes on top, salt and pepper and occasionally a dribble of olive oil. So am I eating bruschetta? And the version below from The Silver Spoon - supposedly the authority on Italian food - is most likely what we all think of when we think bruschetta - or similar versions thereof anyway.

Then you have to wonder are the more elaborate ones really crostini rather than bruschetta? Well no. It seems the difference, which is subtle, is in the bread - large sourdough kind of loaves for bruschetta, thickly sliced - toasted over flames of some kind to be authentic, and served hot. Crostini - thin slices of baguette type bread, toasted in the oven and topped with whatever you like - served hot or cold.

Not a great deal of difference there is there?

I doubt that many people are actually toasting their bruschetta over flame, even though the word itself comes from bruscare - meaning to roast over coals. Maybe next time you have a barbecue you should try the classical thing. And use your best olive oil - one of those beautiful bottles you keep aside for special occasions. And put it and the garlic on whilst the toast is still hot. This is important. Because it's all in the oil. Don't forget the salt. However, and alas, we do not yet seem to be able to get fresh garlic here. Unless you grow your own.

Bruschetta - a beautiful thing.

"It is as basic as food gets - a loaf of bread, a clove of garlic and a bottle of olive oil - yet I cannot think of much that is more worth getting right. By which I mean as delicious as it is possible to be." Nigel Slater