Acquasala ancient dish from southern Italy

Summer brings to mind an old-fashioned, flavourful dish made with simple, seasonal ingredients, which is still very popular today, particularly in certain regions of southern Italy: Puglia, Basilicata and Campania. We are talking about ‘acquasale’, better known as acquasala which gives pride of place to the most precious food on the table, namely bread – which, in this recipe, is stale. Because, just as in the past, nothing is thrown away today.

Especially on these hot days, it’s a real struggle to turn on the hob in the kitchen, and it’s certainly not very appealing to eat a “hot, steaming dish”. So we prefer to simply put the ingredients together fresh and seasonal which require no cooking at all to prepare this quick, simple and very tasty dish, much loved by Italians.

How to make traditional or modern brine

Ingredients: stale bread, salt, extra virgin olive oil, seasonal tomatoes, oregano.

The stale bread It can be crumbled, left whole, arranged on the bottom of a plate or placed in a salad bowl and softened by adding water. Next, add the remaining ingredients: fresh, seasonal tomatoes, chopped into small pieces; salt to taste; a measured amount of extra virgin olive oil; and finally, a sprinkling of oregano to bring out the flavour. It makes for a truly delicious starter, just as the original recipe intends.

Whilst in his modern variant it can also be regarded as a main course only if you add other ingredients that complement the original recipe, making it complete, balanced and well-rounded: depending on your personal tastes and dietary preferences, this dish can also be enhanced by adding garlic and/or Tropea red onions.

It can be considered a star summer dish that you simply cannot do without, both because it is so quick to prepare and because of the aromas and flavours that such a simple dish can offer. In conclusion, in our beloved region, Lucania, ‘acquasale’ can also be prepared by adding crispy peppers.

The simplicity of the dish, the seasonal nature of the ingredients, and the authenticity provided by nature. We hope our readers enjoy their meal.

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