Garlic Bread

Gabe

Gabe

Community Member
Nov 9, 2014
546
58
28
In UK pizza chains and restaurants, there is garlic bread or dough balls, but you don't find these in Italy or I haven't. They have bruschetta, so I do think garlic bread was created to make more money to charge for bread as a starter. I think because garlic bread is now a popular starter and side, that we expect it in Italy, but unless it's a touristy place I don't remember ever seeing it.

Anyone found garlic bread or dough balls in Italy in a traditional restaurant?
 
Never.

Doughballs look like chinese man tou more than anything italian.

The closest thing you might find are fried dough Sgabei made in the northern tip of Tuscany.

cc7b163709fbc54bb9b2ec11d4c33cea.webp
 
Is bruschetta Italian? I have never really had it in an Italian restaurant and remember there were a lot of Greek restaurants I knew growing up that served it. I have never had it served at Italian people's homes either.

Garlic bread does seem to be a pretty popular accompaniment to Italian food in American restaurants.
 
I don't really view garlic dough balls as Italian food? They sell them for cheap at a pizzeria near where I work, so a lot of my co-workers eat them, but I never viewed them as "truly" Italian, more like American Italian. (Like how Chop Suey isn't Chinese but American Chinese.)

Though, most of the garlic bread that I eat looks like this
Franks-GarlicBread.jpg


Though when you ask for garlic bread as a resturant or pizza place (though they're generally called "sticks" and not "bread") they look like this
dad8fc8bbf7fa894b5a8d6ed390439b8.webp


I don't know man, all I really know is that garlic + bread thing = DELICIOUS. ;)
 
Bruschetta is Italian! It's very traditional.

In the UK let me explain we have garlic dough balls which are actually just balls of white pizza dough and it's served with garlic butter and the idea is to spread the butter on yourself. I'm sure t was created to make more money and to look like posh garlic bread. Maybe it's a British thing, because they now sell them in supermarkets ready made too here.
menu_starters_doppio.webp
 
It's not too difficult to make garlic bread at home. I'd imagine if I had to try and make bruschetta by myself. The kitchen would be messy. :( I do eat them a lot when I have them with me. Some restaurants are kind enough to give them away free while waiting for the main course to arrive. I've had garlic bread slices given to me for free to compensate for the late order.
 
Bruschetta is Italian. Also I love garlic bread as it compliments a lot of different foods. Garlic bread and spaghetti is my favorite and very popular in the states. Also fettuccini and garlic bread is amazing as the two favors blend well. The Italian culture is very diverse and I'm sure there are a lot of old recipes out there that the public isn't familiar with.
 
Bruschetta is really nice, we had this when we visited Italy a couple of years ago. We went to a traditional Italian restaurant and the food really was exquisite. I do not remember them serving garlic bread though. It is claimed to be Italian, but we did not see it whilst we were there and we went for ten days, so ate at the restaurants quite a lot!

Some English restaurants serve frozen garlic bread and some of it is horrible, although we went to a local family run restaurant and they made their on garlic bread with homemade garlic, it was divine!
 
i really don't know. i always thought it to be Italian . i made both bread and balls at home before and i can tell you they turned out so much better than the shop bought ones and they weren't hard to do either
 
Interesting. Now that I think about it, I haven't seen garlic bread too often around here either... Now even when I went for the classic aperitivo with friends. Lots of food was always served, but there was no garlic bread.

The truth is, garlic bread is actually an American dish :) The bruschetta is indeed Italian, and it can have garlic toppings and such, but the garlic bread originates from the USA. I think it was invented even before the 1950's.

By the way, since we're on this very topic and it was also mentioned before, garlic bread is easy to make at home!
I've actually done it about a week ago :) I have my trusty ol' bread machine, I simply added the ingredients for 'normal bread' and added: chopped garlic, chopped parsley and some thyme and after 3 hours, yumm my garlic bread was done! So, yeah, anybody can do it at home :)
 
The closest I have ever found to it in a traditional Italian restaurant or cafe is a pizza with garlic oil and herbs on it served as a garlic pizza bread. I am sure they do it because people are used to garlic bread and expect it, but I never had it in Italy and wouldn't order it either as it's really for foreigners.

I do indulge at home, but I like to add my own toppings like some mushrooms or onions, so it's like a bite size pizza for me.
 
I have never found it. I have eaten a lot of bruschetta though. I don't understand why you would choose bread a side dish to pasta though. Seems like it would be very dry.
 
OliveOil said:
I have never found it. I have eaten a lot of bruschetta though. I don't understand why you would choose bread a side dish to pasta though. Seems like it would be very dry.
Click to expand...

Not really, it's usually smothered with garlic butter and herbs and many places offer it with cheese. Garlic bread with cheese is a very popular starter and a side dish in most pubs and restaurants in the UK and also in the US.
 
Gabe said:
Not really, it's usually smothered with garlic butter and herbs and many places offer it with cheese. Garlic bread with cheese is a very popular starter and a side dish in most pubs and restaurants in the UK and also in the US.
Click to expand...

I live in Asia and it's very prominent in Italian restaurants here as well. I guess the idea is that garlic bread goes well with the garlic in pasta dishes?
 
Interesting to know how widespread garlic bread has become. It is a huge family favorite in my country (South Africa). Almost every gathering has it and it's on every restaurant menu. But lately it's best to make your garlic bread at home as the quality seems to be dropping in the shops and how much garlic butter they put into the bread.
 
Gabe said:
Not really, it's usually smothered with garlic butter and herbs and many places offer it with cheese. Garlic bread with cheese is a very popular starter and a side dish in most pubs and restaurants in the UK and also in the US.
Click to expand...

I've eaten garlic bread many times, but never as a side dish. Here we usually eat as a starter dish and I've never seen them in an Italian restaurant before.
 
Italians restaurants outside of Italy, such as in the USA or UK take Italian food and adapt it to be served with customer expectations pertaining to the country. Italian restaurants in Italy don't serve free bread or garlic bread for that matter. In the states, there are rolls and bread sticks and the typical garlic bread, which is smothered with butter and garlic.
 
OliveOil said:
I've eaten garlic bread many times, but never as a side dish. Here we usually eat as a starter dish and I've never seen them in an Italian restaurant before.
Click to expand...

Many casual dining places list starters and sides together because that's how they make money. The profit margins on them is high and in nearly every pub or hotel restaurant you will find garlic bread because it's easy and cheap. Most of it is frozen and in supermarket cafes they usually offer it will all kinds of meals. Italian cafes are more likely to offer it than a restaurant I imagine.
 
Gabe said:
Many casual dining places list starters and sides together because that's how they make money. The profit margins on them is high and in nearly every pub or hotel restaurant you will find garlic bread because it's easy and cheap. Most of it is frozen and in supermarket cafes they usually offer it will all kinds of meals. Italian cafes are more likely to offer it than a restaurant I imagine.
Click to expand...

There's also a teen cafe near my house that sells garlic bread as a BREAKFAST dish, lol
 
Top Bottom