A lesson in Bruschetta

One of the world’s simplest of pleasures – fresh bread and tomato – is also one of the most mispronounced. La Bruschetta is a much loved menu item in places far and away from Italy’s peninsula but it suffers from being misspelled and mispronounced to the point where the mispronounced version is becoming the accepted norm. Even well-known chefs on well-known television shows who ought to know better are using the wrong words and there should really be no confusion on how to pronounce this beauty of a dish.

From taleggio to gelato, we use many Italian words (rather than translations) for their unique ingredients and dishes, I think it’s important to do them justice by at least pronouncing (and spelling!) the words correctly.

After all, we managed to get cappuccino right, we (mostly) even manage macchiato. We got the silent ‘g’ in lasagne and gnocchi (but sadly, tagliatelle still has a long way to come). Prosciutto has it all right, notwithstanding spelling mistakes (our local supermarket deli in Melbourne spells it ‘proschito’). But somehow bruschetta lost out to confused English-speakers, who, perhaps choosing to ignore that there is a ‘c’ between the ‘s’ and the ‘h’, overwhelming decided to pronounce it incorrectly as ‘bruSH-etta’.

So here begins a quick Italian lesson. The Italian language loves rules, which means it should be easy to remember these few simple things and apply them wherever you see them in Italian.

When the letter ‘c’ is followed by ‘i’ or ‘e’, it becomes a soft ‘ch’ sound, as in ‘ciao’ and ‘cappuccino’. So far so good. This, we’ve got. But when the letter ‘c’ is followed by an ‘h’, it becomes a hard ‘k’ sound, such as ‘macchiato’. This should not be a surprise to English speakers, think of how we use the ‘sch’ combination in English in words such as ‘scheme’, ‘scholar’ and ‘school’. Why oh why have we decided to suddenly throw away our own tendencies in English and pronounce bruschetta without the ‘c’? How it’s come to this, I cannot begin to understand, but it’s time to clear the confusion. Bruschetta is not bruSH-etta, it’s brus-KE-ta.

The word bruschetta comes from bruscare, to char – another fantastic Italian food word that in itself reveals part of the recipe. A slice of bread is traditionally charred over charcoal on both sides before being rubbed with a clove of raw garlic and dressed in a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkle of salt. This most simple of bruschette (the plural form) is also known as fettunta in Tuscany and makes a wonderful, quick and tasty snack or antipasto. A step up from this is the addition of freshly chopped, ripe tomatoes and torn basil, which for me is the perfect lunch or even dinner on those hot days when you don’t feel like cooking anything or eating much at all.

Tasty tomatoes are paramount to a good bruschetta. There really is nothing like picking tomatoes fresh off the vine and eating them moments later, as we did one evening last week with our friends (Sarah and her father Amico) at their organic farm in San Gimignano, Poggio Alloro. Italian tomatoes taste of the hot summer sun that ripens them, there is really no comparison, but growing your own is probably the best way to get the tastiest tomatoes.

For bruschetta, I like to use a mix of different tomatoes, such as San Marzano (plum tomatoes), cherry tomatoes and any of those wonderfully sweet, ribbed Tuscan tomatoes that are known in their various forms and types as cuore di bue (ox heart), brutti ma buoni (ugly but delicious), costoluti (from the word costole meaning ribs), pisanelli (from Pisa) or nostrali (“our” tomatoes, i.e. local Tuscan tomatoes), to name a few. These are particularly great tomatoes for eating raw in salads or on bruschetta.

Bruschetta

  • Slices of the freshest crusty bread you can get your hands on, such as ciabatta
  • Ripe tomatoes (see above for some suggestions)
  • Freshly torn basil (try also fresh mint, thyme, majoram or oregano)
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • Sea salt and pepper
  • clove of raw garlic (optional)

Prepare the tomatoes first by chopping roughly into similar sized pieces and tossing in a bowl with sea salt, some freshly ground black pepper and a generous slosh of extra virgin olive oil. Set aside for at least 10-15 minutes or so to allow the salt to draw out the juices and mingle with the olive oil. Meanwhile toast the slices of bread under a grill or in a pan (or over charcoal if you happen to have the barbeque on!). If you are using the garlic, rub the clove just once or twice over the hot toasted bread. Top with the chopped tomatoes and freshly torn basil or your other favourite herbs and if you like, another drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Comments

  1. Valeria says:

    I experienced many ch pronounced as tsch or as sch…Never understood why it is so difficult to learn!Anyway, Jesse keeps dreaming of the bruschetta he ate in Tuscany, near Arezzo “just you know, that bread, and the tomatoes from the garden, and that oil…oh it’s the best thing”! hahahah, yes, it really is the best thing. Could eat just that all summer.

  2. Rosa says:

    A simple, but wonderful treat! Your bruschette scream summer.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

  3. Jesse says:

    It’s true, I ate those on fresh tuscan bread with oil and it changed my perspective. I wish we could have tomatoes like that in London, it is the hardest part of living here!

  4. Thank you Emiko for clearing that up! Yes I was guilty but now I am enlightened – it’s brus-KE-ta from now on for me.

  5. Zita says:

    It’s a great post, Emiko! I think for me Hungarian, it’s easy to pronounce bruschetta! 😉 I’m also planning to share a bruschetta post later (the recipe I learnt from you :)). I took the photos, I just need to write the post.

  6. Laura says:

    those tomatoes have me salivating. can’t wait to get over to italy and eat me some brusCHetta soon!

  7. I’m so glad you addressed the bruschetta issue! It seems to be a constant source of confusion in restaurants (I pronounce it brus-KE-ta) and I had wondered if it was me. Whew! The tomatoes photographed here are absolutely stunning!

    • Emiko says:

      I’ve been longing to rant about this since moving to Melbourne, where it seems (even with all the food knowledge and interest that this city prides itself on) NO one knows how to pronounce it correctly! 😉

  8. Sarah says:

    Working in a restaurant, I never know if I should say bru-sh-etta or brus-ke-ta when tables pronounce it wrong. One part of me wants to say it the correct way, but the other part doesn’t want to make them feel like I am putting them down by correcting them…

    Either way, this is one of my all-time favorite summer treats.

    • Emiko says:

      I understand the problem, though I would be inclined to help people know how to pronounce it correctly – maybe just repeating the order with the right pronunciation?

  9. eloise Burke says:

    Can you say Bru sketta. that is what it sounds like…

  10. Janine says:

    Brava Emiko!!!! Someone had to say it. This is a bug bear of mine. It’s really disrespectful when the correct pronunciation is hardly difficult – and it’s only getting worse as you say! Thank you for a gorgeous post too!
    Janine

  11. So jealous of all your wonderful tomatoes pictured! it’s rare when we actually get a tomato that tastes like a tomato, even in NY…

    • Tony says:

      go to Seeds from Italy where you will find these tomatoes, grow your own plants and set them in the garden. I live in upper New York (almost Canada) and I grow these every year. Can always fo them in a patio pot if you don’t garden. They are worth the effort if you make sauce also

  12. Thank you for repeating this lesson once again, perhaps one day every one will say brusChetta! Fingers crossed.

  13. AmyLW says:

    I just stumbled across your blog from Pinterest. What an absolute treasure! Tuscany is on my list of places I must absolutely go. I can’t wait to peruse your blog and learn about Tuscan cooking. *hugs* from a new fan.

  14. Lee Ann says:

    We just stayed at Poggio Alloro in May. What a delight to see it on your website!

    • Emiko says:

      It’s a wonderful place, isn’t it? You’ll find it ALL over my blog, it’s one of my very favourite places — and you might see my work in their cookbook! 🙂

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