The Bruschetta of My Dreams
In a narrow cobblestone alley in Foligno, Italy, I stumble into the dream world of chef Nicoletta Franceschini at Silene Piccolo Ristorante
Down a small side street in the medieval town of Foligno, we happened upon Silene Piccolo Ristorante
If I were an astronaut, I would dream of landing on an alien world, a landscape out of a 1950s science fiction comic, complete with dinosaurs and mysterious humanoids. But as a cook, I dream of walking down a small side street in a dusty medieval town only to stumble across a jewel of an eatery, displaying some as-yet-undiscovered revelation about the culinary arts.
I am thrilled to say that this is no daydream—it actually happened last summer during a trip to Umbria, when I came across Silene Piccolo Ristorante, the brainchild and passion of Nicoletta Franceschini. I found it on a small street, in a small town, Foligno, which felt half-abandoned in the summer heat, with silent courtyards and empty cobblestone alleys.
Once described as a "woodland sprite," Franceschini combines a diminutive charm blessed with a creative force that appears unworldly. Her cooking would be a slam-dunk three Michelin stars in New York or Paris. The interior cool and flower-decked, with pale green walls and a floral wallpaper that would be spot-on for the set of "A Midsummer Night’s Dream," Silene transports one to the inner dream world of the chef.
My hours in the kitchen with Franceschini offered many lessons. Yes, she often works with ingredients beyond the reach of most—eel stock, nettle-infused dough and fermented strawberries—but it is the simplicity of her touch that impresses most, as with her honey-roasted fig and prosciutto bruschetta. Lesson One: A hint of garlic flavors oil; it remains in the background. Lesson Two: Fresh herbs are essential tools in the culinary quiver, not helter-skelter add-ons. Lesson Three: Be bold with your combinations of sweet, sour, crunchy, soft, bright, fruity and meaty.
The bruschetta begins with frying three cloves of garlic and rosemary briefly in olive oil and then removing them. The bread is then fried, but just on the outside; the interior must remain soft. Plump green figs are roasted with local honey and herbs (marjoram and lemon verbena). Then the fruit and sauce are spooned over the toasted bread, which has been draped with prosciutto.
Here at Milk Street, we readily accept our more prosaic culinary skills, using the broiler to toast bread and cook the figs. Lemon zest and arugula provide pops of freshness at the end, rather than harder-to-find fresh marjoram and verbena.
We eagerly tip our toques to a chef whose skills transcend ours but nonetheless provide inspiration for a homemade bruschetta that is still a dream.
Christopher Kimball
Christopher Kimball is founder of Milk Street, which produces Milk Street Magazine, Milk Street Television on PBS, and the weekly public radio show Milk Street Radio. He founded Cook’s Magazine in 1980 and was host and executive producer of America’s Test Kitchen until 2016. Kimball is the author of several books, including "The Yellow Farmhouse" and "Fannie’s Last Supper."
