Garlic bread — Italian bread split lengthwise, spread with a garlic-butter mixture, and baked or broiled until golden and crispy — is an Italian-American invention with no Italian ancestor. Italian cooking uses *bruschetta* (grilled bread rubbed with raw garlic and drizzled with olive oil) and *fettunta* (the Tuscan variation), but the American garlic bread — butter-soaked, garlicky, often with Parmesan and parsley, sometimes wrapped in foil and baked — is a product of the Italian-American red sauce restaurant and the home kitchen. It is the bread of every Italian-American dinner and the first thing that disappears from the table.
A loaf of Italian bread (or French bread) split lengthwise, spread generously with softened butter mixed with minced garlic, dried or fresh parsley, and sometimes grated Parmesan. Baked at 190°C open-faced for 10-12 minutes until the edges are golden and the butter is sizzling, or wrapped in foil and baked for a softer, more butter-saturated result. The bread should be crispy at the edges, soft and butter-soaked in the centre, and aggressively garlicky.
1) Generous butter — the butter should be visible and abundant. Skimpy garlic bread is an insult. 2) Real garlic — minced fresh, not garlic powder (though garlic powder has its defenders for its even distribution and milder burn). 3) Open-faced baking produces crispy edges; foil-wrapped baking produces soft, steamy bread. Both are legitimate.
Garlic knots — strips of pizza dough tied in knots, baked, then tossed in garlic butter and parsley — are the pizza shop's version and arguably the superior garlic bread format. Texas toast garlic bread — thick-sliced white bread, buttered, garlicked, and griddled — is the Southern crossover.
Arthur Schwartz — Arthur Schwartz's New York City Food