Garlic Bread

I had never given this much thought until I read this thread - I just always assumed garlic bread was commonplace in Italy, since it's such a basic thing to make. But now that you mention it, I don't ever recall seeing my Italian grandparents make it when they would have us over for dinner, nor was it ever served at any of our family get togethers with our extended family. Perhaps it really is an "Americanized" Italian thing.

Though I agree with the earlier posts on here, that offering garlic infused oil on a plate to dip bread in, or a foccacia bread, are practically the same thing - just a slightly different presentation.

When I used to work at a pizza shop, our "garlic bread" was made from leftover pizza dough from the day before. The day-old dough wouldn't rise as well as the fresh dough, so we wouldn't use it for pizzas. Instead we just drizzled garlic infused olive oil over it, and hit it with some garlic salt, and put it through the oven, then cut it into breadsticks, and sprinkled some extra Parmesan on top.
 
That's a good way to use up dough. I was once in a pizza place late in New York and wanted some garlic bread and he really didn't want to make me any and i guess I can see why. It was too much effort and breadsticks are easier to make. It wasn't good garlic bread either, but the pizza was okay.

In the UK we have it all the time and I think it must have been created for mass Italian restaurants outside of Italy as oils used to be more expensive, but are now commonplace. I imagine people are perplexed when they don't find it on the menu in Italy (unless it's very touristy) and am sure Italians are amused by it all.
 
I love garlic bread, it's delicious. Whenever I go to an Italian restaurant I always ask for it, but at the same time when the main course comes I am already half full from eating so much haha, so I need to control myself a little. :)
 
I never really thought of garlic bread as a very Italian concept, but I think it's easy to mistake it for one. I think that Italian restaurants (in the UK and USA at least) usually serve garlic bread as that's the expectation that most people have when they go into an Italian restaurant, and as it's so popular many people must have wanted it. I don't think that Italian restaurants specifically serve it because it's Italian, more because that's what people expect and like.
 
My family makes garlic bread a lot, but you are right. Whenever we go to Italian restaurants they don’t serve it. They only serve fresh bread and olive oil. I do see it a lot more at pizzerias though.
 
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