Bruschetta al Pomodoro

When, many years ago and newly arrived in America, I was asked at the table of friends if I’d like some Italian garlic bread, I thought, as I accepted, how nice that they know about bruschetta. After a while, a warm bundle in a napkin was brought to the table and unwrapped to disclose a steaming loaf of bread, split in two, its redolently garlicky inside drenched in butter. I rethought, no, they don’t know about bruschetta.

Garlic bread in Italy, bruschetta, is