Frisa Barese — Twice-Baked Barley Bread Soaked with Tomato

Ingredients

• 4 barley-wheat friselle, genuine twice-baked barley-wheat rings, from an Italian food shop
• 400 g very ripe cherry tomatoes, quartered, or beefsteak tomato sliced — peak-summer fruit only
• 60 ml Pugliese DOP extra-virgin olive oil, green and peppery
• 1 tsp dried Pugliese oregano
• 1 tsp sea salt, flaked or coarse

Method

1. 1
   Fill a wide bowl with cold water. One at a time, submerge each frisella fully for 5 to 10 seconds — the Pugliese debate runs from 3 seconds (crunchy throughout) to 30 seconds (soft throughout); 5 to 10 seconds yields the correct result: a slightly yielding exterior with a resistant core. Lift out and shake off the excess water. The rusk must hold its shape and offer resistance when pressed at the centre.
2. 2
   Place each hydrated frisella on its plate immediately. Crush the quartered cherry tomatoes by hand directly over the rusk so that the juice soaks into the surface and the flesh settles across it. The tomato should smell sweet and faintly acidic.
3. 3
   Drizzle each frisella with the Pugliese DOP olive oil — approximately 15 ml per portion. Season with sea salt and dried oregano. The surface should glisten; the oil must be visible in pools around the tomato.
4. 4
   Eat immediately. The frisella must reach the table and be consumed before the tomato water renders the base soft and structureless. There is no correct flavour note to test here beyond the integration of barley, ripe tomato, and peppery oil tasted together in the first bite.