The name both Italians and English speakers give to the delicious toasted Italian bread covered in olive oil, garlic or tomatoes is bruschetta (feminine, plural: bruschette).
Learn how to pronounce “bruschetta” with our video
You may be wondering why today’s ‘word of the day’ is an Italian word that also exists in the English language. Well, there’s a very good reason! 😉
Because some English people pronounce bruschetta as brushetta (with a sh sound), we tend to have a difficult time remembering how to pronounce it correctly in Italian. The correct pronunciation can be heard below:
Esistono molte versioni differenti della bruschetta, ma la più tradizionale è quella al pomodoro.
There are many versions of bruschetta, but the most traditional is the tomato bruschetta.
It is said that bruschetta as we know it today originated in Italy during 15th century. However, during the Ancient Roman times, it was common for olive growers to taste a sample of their freshly pressed oil at the local olive press using a slice of bread. In fact, the word itself derives from the Roman verb bruscare, meaning to roast over coals. (Source: The Telegraph)
Did you know that…?
Bruschette is also the name given to the game Drawing Straws where a group of people decide something by picking from straws of different lengths. Whoever pulls the shortest straw is chosen to do an unpleasant task.
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Heather Broster is a graduate with honours in linguistics from the University of Western Ontario. She is an aspiring polyglot, proficient in English and Italian, as well as Japanese, Welsh, and French to varying degrees of fluency. Originally from Toronto, Heather has resided in various countries, notably Italy for a period of six years. Her primary focus lies in the fields of language acquisition, education, and bilingual instruction.
