Acquasale Pugliese con Pomodoro e Origano

Ingredients

• 4 Friselle (barley twice-baked bread rings), stale; pane di Altamura or stale ciabatta acceptable
• 600 g Ripe summer field tomatoes, to be squeezed by hand over the bread; not refrigerated, not out of season
• 1 tsp Wild dried oregano, not fresh
• 60 ml Raw extra-virgin olive oil, added last, generously
• 1 pinch Sea salt, Cervia sea salt preferred in coastal tradition
• Optional additions (coastal tradition)
• 40 g Black olives (Cellina di Nardò), whole or pitted
• 2 Desalted anchovy fillets, crushed into the tomato juice before dressing

Method

1. 1
   Pour cold water into a wide shallow bowl. Dip each frisella face-down for exactly 3–5 seconds. Lift and set on the serving plate. The bread must have softened at the surface while remaining firm and structured at its core — it gives slightly under thumb pressure but does not bend.
2. 2
   Halve the tomatoes and squeeze them by hand directly over the bread, pressing firmly so the juice runs down into the dimples and cut faces of the friselle. The pulp falls onto the surface; distribute it evenly. Discard the skins if preferred. The bread surface should be visibly stained red and glistening with absorbed juice.
3. 3
   If using anchovy, crush the desalted fillets into the tomato juice on the bread with a fork before the next step, working them until they dissolve into the surface.
4. 4
   Season with a pinch of sea salt. Scatter the wild dried oregano over the tomato surface. The dried herb will begin to rehydrate on contact with the tomato juice; its aroma rises immediately — sharp, slightly camphorous, distinctly Mediterranean.
5. 5
   Pour the raw olive oil in a generous thread over each portion. The oil should pool visibly in the dimples of the bread surface. Add black olives if using. Serve at once, while the bread retains its structure.