4 Recipes for an Alternative Bruschetta
The term “bruschetta” for many reasons is the most contradictory thing one can taste when wandering around the grids of the whole world. To begin with, although it is much less celebrated than others, it is one of the best known Italian words abroad after pizza, spaghetti and lasagna alla Bolognese and yet 99% of foreigners still have a hard time getting comfortable with this expression that is not so tame to languages anglophone, pronouncing it “bruscietta”.
In terms of contradictions, even within the national borders we are not better placed: the bruschetta is present in practically every self-respecting outdoor grill but very rarely it is made to perfection. The reason is simple: it is a course that we consider trivial, a simple filler waiting to eat “really”. It is a dish with few pretensions, based on simple bread and tomato, or even just olive oil (the famous “fettunta”) on which it is not even worth wasting time to worry about the quality of cooking. And it’s a real shame because a well made bruschetta, like all the poor dishes of our tradition, makes of its perfect simplicity the reason for its success.
Finally, its conformation, no more than a base of bread with a condiment, lends itself to infinite interpretations but the version with tomato is so rooted that it merges with the very meaning of the term. To realize how true it is, try typing the word “bruschetta” in google images….
First of all, let us clarify from a technical point of view. The term “bruschetta” derives from the concept of “bruscato bread”, a peasant method used in ancient times to ensure greater preservation of bread, consisting of cutting it into slices in ready for consumption and making them dehydrate next to the embers of the hearth, to the point of guarantee a crunchy consistency but a heart still soft enough to keep it edible without great effort. Or exactly the opposite of what is commonly done in any cook off nowadays, where the bread is subjected to infernal temperatures, playing as acrobats to avoid carbonizing it and at best to give it a wrong consistency: still tender and with grillmarks on the surface instead of golden and crunchy. And it could not be any different: bread contains starch, which, like all sugars, tends to burn easily at high temperatures and therefore loves sweet cooking, perhaps supported by a drizzle of oil on the surface that emphasizes the superficial roasting.
The same upper grid that we find in most of the gas devices on the market and that is used for the most disparate reasons, has in fact as main function just to provide the ideal conditions for cooking the bruschetta, companion of each grill that respects. The principle is therefore simple: the presence of a moderate heat, possibly not in direct contact with the full conduction of the grids that create evident grill marks, for a homogeneously golden result and a delicately dehydrated surface, the bruscato effect in fact. The upper grid lends itself well because at the same time it leaves free space on the hob but also a preventive indirect cooking works with excellent results or at the limit even a direct cooking provided at a very controlled temperature.
The bruschetta was probably the first element to be used as an alternative to classic grilling, the cornerstone of a route that has led us today towards a more gourmet view of the barbecue, which wants it to form a kitchen equal to others for dignity and expressive potential. The motifs appear to be quite logical: once the bread is bruscato (toasted), the topping becomes a pure creative expression dissociated from the cooking technique, whether made hot with melting cheeses or gratin or made cold with combinations that canonically work in any area, such as pears and toma , salmon and butter, walnuts and zola.
As original contribution to this post, however, we did not want to fall to this matter, in which you could probably be more creative and effective than I could do, but in particular embrace a specific area of the possible condiments to the bruschetta: that of creams, between which probably the best known in our field is the ember roasted eggplant cream. So I wanted to report below 4 recipes found on the net during the years that you probably do not know, that can be done earlier your cook off and that will make you rediscover the bruschetta in a new key.
Romesco Sauce
Ingredients:
1 Ember roasted red pepper, deprived of seeds and peeled
1/2 glass of toasted almonds
1/2 glass of diced dry bread
9 quarter sliced cherry tomatoes
3 spoons of Apple Vinegar
3 spoons of Olive Oil
2 teaspoons of Chipotle Tabasco
Procedure:
Pour all the ingredients in a container with high sides and with the help of an immersion blender, emulsify until a cream is obtained
Provencal Cream
Ingredients:
1 Garlic Cloves
10 anchovies in oil
10 Dried Tomatoes in Oil
2 cherry tomatoes cut into wedges
2 basil leaves
1 teaspoon of Thyme
1 teaspoon of Origan
1 spoon of Olive Oil
q.b. salt and pepper
Procedure:
Pour all the ingredients in a container with high sides and with the help of an immersion blender, emulsify until a cream is obtained
Bavarian Obatzter
Ingredients:
300 gr. of diced Camembert
100 gr. pf Philadelphia (or any other Quark cheese)
3 spoons of softened butter
5 cl. of beer
2 teaspoons of paprika
1 teaspoon of grounded Cumin
1 teaspoon of White Pepper
1 Red Onion
Procedure:
Pour all the ingredients but onion in a container with high sides and with the help of an immersion blender, emulsify until a cream is obtained. Cut the onion into fine rings and use them to decorate the Obatzter’s surface.
Herbed Chickpea Sauce
Ingredients:
1 can of chickpeas drained from conserve liquid
4 Garlic cloves
30 gr. of diced Bacon
1/4 of diced blond Onion
1/2 stalk of celery
3 Sage leaves
the leaves of a sprig of Rosemary
1 Basil leaf
1 teaspoon fo green Tabasco
2 teaspoons of Sale
1/2 glass of Olive Oil
1 teaspoon of Thyme
Procedure:
Pour all the ingredients in a container with high sides and with the help of an immersion blender, emulsify until a cream is obtained
Try to imagine your next cook off in which you will serve your guests a portion of each of these sauces. Heat up your device earlier, slowly make the bread toast and enjoy your starter. But pay attention, the risk that then they want to continue just with it is more than real!