Italian restaurants all over the country rely on the bread that they serve their patrons as a draw to the restaurant. We don’t necessarily know which culture started the ‘free appetizer’ craze, but we do know that we love the free bread which is churned out of many Italian restaurants’ commercial ovens, often as a form of bruschetta.
Even though there is great creativity in the type of bread that is used, the real creativity and variety can be found in the spices and oils which are used in the dipping oil that comes with the bread. After all, what is bread without something to sop it up with?
One restaurant in Wisconsin uses sundried tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, onions, and garlic. Another uses freshly ground pepper, a bit of crushed rosemary, basil, and delicious extra virgin olive oil in the mixture. Still others use a dash or three of parmesan cheese in the mix, giving it even more of a flash of flavor.
The point is that when you’re trying to get the perfect recipe for your own restaurant’s dipping oil, you have a huge variety of ingredients at your disposal. Very few things can really beat Italian bread and dipping oil infused with even more flavor, can they?
