Panzanella – A taste of Summer in a bowl. I found that there was so much to take away from researching Panzanella. I feel that I could almost write a book. For example, I didn’t know that originally the tomato was thought to be poisonous. Consequently, on its introduction to Europe it was grown as an ornamental plant. In fact, tomatoes were only introduced to the Panzanella in the nineteen hundreds. Panzanella is an example of Italian cucina povera or ‘food of the poor’. This a frugal style of cooking making the most of every ingredient.
