It's been a while, so let's return to an Italian product. As I've mentioned previously, these are usually quite easy to find in South Jersey. Today's will be the bruschettini from the Asturi brand.
Add another company to the list of ones that don't provide much about their history, founder(s), etc. Asturi is owned by the Abraco Group, which is based out of Florida. Abraco, in turn, dates back to 2010. In addition to Asturi, Abraco also owns BMB Foods, Grupo Bimbo, and the Monviso brands. The company boasts that it has 45 years of experience in the marketing of Italian food, so that implies that at least one of their brands started in about 1981. But that's about all I could find online. Otherwise, alternate products made by Asturi include different flavors of bruschettini, crispbreads, breadsticks, croccante (a crunchy bread), focaccia (another kind of bread), cookies, and puff pastries. And the bag label read "product of Italy," so they were made overseas.
So, since we can't learn much about the company that makes this week's food, let's delve into the history of the food type itself. Bruschetta is an antipasto, or Italian for an appetizer. Essentially it's like toast, as it's bread that's been grilled. Afterward, commonly olive oil and salt are added to it, and then various toppings. Tomatoes, other veggies, beans, meats, and cheeses being some of the typical ones. Bruschetta is reported to be the name of this dish in the area around Rome. Other parts of Italy sometimes call it schiena d'asino, which translates literally, and inexplicably, into "donkey's back." Some food historians date this food's origins back to Ancient Roman times, but other, more recently. Waverly Root and Marcella Hazan claim it was called clustrum or crustulum back in these days. However, the International Culinary Center pushes this creation date up a few hundred, or even more years, to the Middle Ages (about 400-1400 A.D.). Furthermore, bruschetta is similar to crostini and fettunata. I posted about crostini on November 8th, 2025. Finally, it appears that "bruschettini" are just smaller, bite-sized versions of bruschetta.
Astrui bruschettini: These were yellowish-white ovals, about 4.5 cm. by 3 cm. (about 1.75 inches by 1.5 inches). The texture was dry and crunchy. They were kind of bland plain. But as canape bases, with interesting toppings on them, they were improved significantly. So I would not recommend eating them by themselves, but if you put something on them, like tomatoes, cheese, meats, or a dip, they're quite good.
