Bruschetta

Bruschetta in a jar with ninety percent tomato

Bruschetta from Cascina San Giovanni is a spreadable tomato topping from the southern Piedmont, made with 90 percent tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, and oregano. It is neither a pesto nor a sauce, but a ready-to-use topping for toasted bread, preserved solely by canning.

The bruschetta from Cascina San Giovanni is a tomato spread in a 180-gram jar, similar to the tomato creams found in Piedmontese cuisine. The list of ingredients is short and clearly ordered: 90 percent tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, salt, sugar, garlic, oregano. With this, the most difficult part of making a good bruschetta is already done.

You can taste the ninety percent tomato immediately

Inside the jar, the cream is dark red and coarse, with visible pieces of tomato and a film of oil on top that can be stirred in.

On the palate, you first taste the tomato, concentrated and slightly sweet, then the olive oil, followed by the garlic and oregano as a framework. Because nine-tenths of the jar is actual fruit, it tastes like tomato rather than a seasoning paste. Round, savory, and robust.

The sugar here is not a sweetener, but balances the acidity, just as one does when canning at home. With 2.3 grams of salt per 100 grams, the spread is clearly salted, which is why you don't need to add any seasoning to the bread underneath.

On toasted bread, in the pan, under cheese

The most obvious way is also the best: toast ciabatta or rustic bread, rub with a clove of garlic, add the spread, and you're done. That is exactly what the cream is made for, and in the original version, a decent bruschetta needs nothing more. If you like, you can place a basil leaf on top.

Furthermore, it works well in warm dishes: as a base for a quick sauce for spaghetti, as a bed for fried fish, as a spread in panini and wraps, or as a layer under cheese on focaccia. A spoonful stirred into scrambled eggs turns breakfast into a small lunch.

On an antipasti platter, it sits nicely next to grilled mushrooms and a few olives. Once opened, the jar should be refrigerated and consumed within a few days.

An old farmhouse in the Alta Langa

Cascina San Giovanni is located in Rocchetta Belbo in the province of Cuneo, in the south of Piedmont, in an old farmhouse surrounded by orchards and hazelnut groves.

The company was founded about thirty years ago by Suzanne and Carlos Gross, two Swiss nationals who previously worked in the restaurant industry in Zurich and started from scratch in the Langa. Since 2013, Sabine and Dominik Suter have been running the house—also Swiss, also from the gastronomy sector. The longest-serving employee has been there for 25 years.

The remarkable thing about the small company is not so much what it grows, but who it works with: for over 25 years, the raw materials have come from the same local farmers, and the olive oils exclusively from personally known producers. In addition to creams, they produce pasta, sauces, pesto, pickled vegetables, vinegars, jams, and desserts, each with an ingredient list that fits on a label.

That two Swiss restaurateurs run a delicatessen manufactory in southern Piedmont might sound like a coincidence at first, but it makes sense: those who have cooked for years know what a jar needs to be useful in a real kitchen. You can taste this background, because there is nothing in here that a chef wouldn't have used themselves.

Antonio Viani, who brings together artisan producers from Italy and Europe, imports the jars to Germany. More pickled goods and spreads can be found under Antipasti and Pickled Goods. A jar that preserves summer without anyone having to peel tomatoes first. Toast bread, spread it on, enjoy your evening.