Bruschetta

Bruschetta

Bruschetta topped with a tomato salad, caramelized balsamic vinegar, and Grana Padano
Course	Antipasto
Place of origin	Italy
Serving temperature	Cold dish
Main ingredients	Bread, garlic, olive oil, topping (tomato, vegetables, beans, cured meat, or cheese)
Other information	Eggplant, olives

Bruschetta (Italian pronunciation: [bruˈsketta]) is an antipasto (starter dish) from Italy consisting of grilled bread rubbed with garlic and topped with olive oil and salt. Variations may include toppings of tomato, vegetables, beans, cured meat, or cheese. A popular dish is Bruschetta with tomatoes; the most popular recipe outside Italy involves basil, fresh tomato, garlic and onion or mozzarella. Bruschetta is usually served as a snack or appetizer. In some countries, a topping of chopped tomato, olive oil and herbs is marketed under the bruschetta name.

In Italy, bruschetta is often prepared using a brustolina grill. In the Abruzzo region of Italy a variation of bruschetta made with a salame called ventricina is served. Raw pork products and spices encased in pig bladder 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. In Tuscany it is called fettunta and it is usually served without toppings, especially in November, to taste the very first oil of the season.

In Standard Italian, bruschetta is pronounced [bruˈsketta]. In English-speaking countries, it is pronounced either /bruːˈskɛtə/, which more closely resembles the Standard Italian pronunciation, or /bruːˈʃɛtə/, which, while closer to certain Southern Italian pronunciations, is more likely an anglophone transliteration of the 'sch' phoneme. In the United States, where grocery stores sell jars of "bruschetta" (usually a tomato-based condiment), the word has sometimes been used erroneously to refer to the topping instead of the bread.