Bruschetta is an Italian appetiser of grilled or toasted bread rubbed with garlic, drizzled with olive oil, and typically topped with chopped tomatoes, basil, and salt. Originating as a way to taste newly pressed olive oil on rustic bread, it has become a fixture of Italian restaurants worldwide, with variations adding mozzarella, mushrooms, or cured meats. The contrast of crisp toast with juicy topping is its appeal. Nutritionally it combines wholegrain or white bread carbohydrates with the monounsaturated fats of olive oil and the lycopene and vitamin C of tomatoes, making it a simple, Mediterranean-style starter.