Garlic bread (also called garlic toast) consists of

bread Bread is a baked food product made from water, flour, and often yeast. It is a staple food across the world, particularly in Europe and the Middle East. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cu ...

(usually

baguette A baguette (; ) is a long, thin type of bread of French origin that is commonly made from basic lean dough (the dough, not the shape, is defined by French law). It is distinguishable by its length and crisp crust. A baguette has a diameter ...

sourdough Sourdough is a type of bread that uses the fermentation by naturally occurring yeast and lactobacillus bacteria to raise the dough. In addition to leavening the bread, the fermentation process produces lactic acid, which gives the bread its dis ...

ciabatta Ciabatta (, ; ) is an Italian white bread created in 1982 by a baker in Adria, Veneto, in response to the popularity of French baguettes. Ciabatta is somewhat elongated, broad, and flat, and is baked in many variations, although unique for its ...

) topped with

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plants in the genus '' Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chives, Welsh onion, and Chinese onion. Garlic is native to central and south Asia, str ...

and occasionally

olive oil Olive oil is a vegetable oil obtained by pressing whole olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea'', a traditional Tree fruit, tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin) and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking for frying foods, as a cond ...

or butter, and may include additional herbs, such as

oregano Oregano (, ; ''Origanum vulgare'') is a species of flowering plant in the mint family, Lamiaceae. It was native to the Mediterranean region, but widely naturalised elsewhere in the temperate climate, temperate Northern Hemisphere. Oregano is a ...

chives Chives, scientific name ''Allium schoenoprasum'', is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaryllidaceae. A perennial plant, ''A. schoenoprasum'' is widespread in nature across much of Eurasia and North America. It is the only spe ...

. It is then either

grilled Grilling is a form of cooking that involves heat applied to the surface of food, commonly from above, below or from the side. Grilling usually involves a significant amount of direct, radiant heat, and tends to be used for cooking meat and v ...

until toasted or baked in a conventional or bread oven. Garlic bread is typically made using a baguette, or sometimes ciabatta which is partially sliced downwards, allowing the condiments to soak into the loaf while keeping it in one piece. The bread is then stuffed through the cuts with oil and minced garlic before

baking Baking is a method of preparing food that uses dry heat, typically in an oven, but it can also be done in hot ashes, or on hot Baking stone, stones. Bread is the most commonly baked item, but many other types of food can also be baked. Heat is ...

. Alternatively, butter and

garlic powder Garlic powder is a spice that is derived from dehydrated garlic and used in cooking for flavor enhancement. The process of making garlic powder includes drying and dehydrating the vegetable, then powdering it through machinery or home-based appli ...

are used, or the bread is cut lengthwise into separate slices which are individually garnished.

History

Garlic bread stems from

bruschetta Bruschetta ( , ) is an Italian appetizer ( antipasto) consisting of grilled bread topped with garlic, olive oil, and salt. Most commonly it is served with toppings of tomatoes, vegetables, beans, cured meat or cheese. In Italy, bruschetta is ...

, which appeared in Italy around the 15th century, and can be traced back to

ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

. Contemporary garlic bread originated in the United States and it is a typical

Italian-American Italian Americans () are Americans who have full or partial Italians, Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeastern United States, Northeast and industrial Midwestern United States, Midwestern ...

dish. Garlic bread may have originated after Italian immigrants started to use butter as a substitute for olive oil, which was uncommon in the United States in the first half of the 20th century.

Europe

In France, it was common in

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

, where it was called '' chapon'' and served with salad. It was also prepared in other regions, such as

Quercy Quercy (; , locally ) is a former province of France located in the country's southwest, bounded on the north by Limousin, on the west by Périgord and Agenais, on the south by Gascony and Languedoc, and on the east by Rouergue and Auverg ...

, as a crust of bread rubbed with garlic and spiced with a pinch of salt along with a drop of walnut oil. In England, butter is used instead of olive oil in garlic bread. In

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

, kepta duona is a fried bread dish involving black

rye bread Rye bread is a type of bread made with various proportions of flour from rye grain. It can be light or dark in color, depending on the type of flour used and the addition of coloring agents, and is typically denser than bread made from wheat f ...

that has been rubbed with garlic. It is often eaten as a bar snack.

North America

In the United States, garlic bread has been on the menu of many restaurants since at least the 1950s, often paired with

pasta Pasta (, ; ) is a type of food typically made from an Leavening agent, unleavened dough of wheat flour mixed with water or Eggs as food, eggs, and formed into sheets or other shapes, then cooked by boiling or baking. Pasta was originally on ...

dishes. Commercially manufactured frozen garlic bread was developed in the 1970s by Cole's Quality Foods in

Muskegon, Michigan Muskegon ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Muskegon County, Michigan, United States. Situated around a harbor of Lake Michigan, Muskegon is known for fishing, sailing regattas, and boating. It is the most populous city along Lake Michigan' ...

Garlic knot Garlic knots are a type of garlic bread found primarily in pizzerias around New York City and the surrounding regions. They were developed in the 1940s in Brooklyn. Many pizzerias claim to be the progenitors of the baked good. As they are a way ...

s, a variant invented in the 1940s in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York City, are commonly served at many pizzerias as appetizers. Texas toast is a form of garlic bread developed in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

in the 1940s and served as a side to southern-style dishes.R - Bar B Que
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References

External links

Cooking For Engineers: Parmesan Garlic Bread
– a simple recipe with step-by-step photographs {{DEFAULTSORT:Garlic bread Italian-American cuisine Bread dishes Garlic dishes

History

Europe

North America

See also

References

External links