The word “bruschetta” comes from “bruscare “, to toast over the coals in Italian. The toast is best just slightly charred a bit from the fire, as those in the picture show. It’s an easy construction. You take the toasted bread and (if you like garlic) rub the rough surface with a cut garlic clove and then drizzle with some good olive oil. Next add your chopped tomatoes and you herbs of choice. A sprinkle of salt and you’re done. This is the classic summer bruschetta, there are other toppings that a restaurant might use, including olive pastes, capers and anchovy, fava or cannellini beans—or whatever fresh vegetables are in season.
The hard part of the whole deal is to get Americans to pronounce this simple word correctly in Italian. The “c” in Italian has very different pronunciation rules than it does in English. Suffice it to say, “brew she tta” is not the way to pronounce it. It is brew-ske’-tta, with a hard “c”. For linguists and others I’ve found these hieroglyphs: /brʊˈskɛtə/.