In Italy there are countless idioms that concern the goodness of bread and its essential presence on the tables – “You’re as good as bread,” “To sell like bread,” “For kings, there is no tastier food than bread”, and many funny others.
At Our Home bread is composed of wheat flour, obtained by a milling process made by traditional methods: the oilseed and protein parts are not brutally separated from the starch, but, enriching its composition, they let the bread retain an aroma and a unique fragrance, which speak of goodness, simplicity and authenticity. The flour is skillfully combined with the leaven of the previous processing and with little salty spring water.
This loaf rests all night; the next day, the mixture is cooled with the addition of other warm water and flour. It follows a strictly manual processing, which makes the dough smooth, homogeneous and with a right consistency. Just a few more hours of leavening and finally the loaf can be baked.
The cooking is made exclusively in a brick oven fueled by twigs from the Mediterranean forest: they give to our bread the characteristic aroma which, together with the thin crust and the solid soft part, becomes the perfect side to cured meats, cheese, vegetables and soup.
But for us the perfect way to taste a good slice of bread is the autenthic and simple Bruschetta.
The perfect Bruschetta is so much more than just a piece of bread. At its best, bruschetta will have a rough, crisp surface rubbed with fresh garlic while still warm, then drizzled with the finest, fruitiest, freshest extra virgin olive oil and dusted with salt. The salt should not be too refined, there should be big grains you can taste and crunch. It will be lightly charred at the crusts and soft inside, the best bruschetta has to have a back taste of smoke. Here the extra virgin olive oil is used naked, the slight heat from the bread will bring out the flavour of the oil.
Bruschetta is perfect in any occasion: as something to put on the table at 7pm with a glass of wine, as an antipasto or as a life-saver when you walk through the door tired and hungry.
How could something so basic be so good?
TIP #1: Don’t cut bread too thinly, or you’ll get crostini. Approximately 1.5 cm is a nice balance between crisp exterior and soft insides.
TIP #2: in many places, the custom is to brush fresh garlic on both sides of the toasted bread, making for a seriously heady flavor experience and rather messy fingers.
INGREDIENTS (4 PEOPLE)
• 4 slices of homemade bread
• 2 cloves of fresh garlic
• Acqua e Farina Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• salt
Toast lightly, or maybe brown on grid, the slices of bread. Peel the garlic, slice garlic in a half and rub it off the slices of bread. Salt, sprinkle with Acqua e Farina Extra Virgin Olive Oil (Moraiolo, Olivastro or Leccino, each of them is amazing) and bring to the table.
WINE PAIRINGS:
White: Vermentino Toscano
Red: Chianti Classico