BRUSCHETTA

The best bruschetta -- pronounced broosketta -- I ever had was in a little trattoria in Assisi. It had that little extra something. I couldn't figure out what it was until the last bite when I crunched a bit of fennel seed. Eureka! It made sense. Fennel grows wild and the simple foods of Italy depend upon what is fresh and available at the time. If no fresh fennel, then seeds to replace it.

The word bruschetta means, roughly, little burnt and that's because the bread is toasted over an open flame. If you haven't got one of those, it's into the toaster with it, but it's not quite the same. Basic bruschetta is plain toasted bread with olive oil but it is better known with chopped tomatoes on top.

I try to make it as I ate it in Assisi although the local bread is just a bit heavier than it is down south. But, I burn both sides of the bread, brush it lightly with garlic, or not, and pile on chopped, vine ripe tomatoes mixed with a little crushed fennel seed, good olive oil and a bit of salt.

Some people make bruschetta ahead of time and keep it in the refrigerator for several hours or even over night. This lets the tomato juice soak into the bread. Personally, I don't like it soggy.

This was the first of the season made with our own tomatoes. It was really quite good.
That's iced tea, sorry.

The yellow "cat's paw" pottery is made locally.