‘Crostoni’, los bocadillos italianos de crujido perfecto | EL COMIDISTA

At first glance, OíMà's crostoni might seem like just another sandwich: two slices of bread with various fillings in between. However, when you taste them—and hear the crunch they make when you bite into them—you realize that something special is happening in this tiny shop in Barcelona's Gothic Quarter. The thin, patiently toasted bread, ultra-crispy yet not at all rough, serves as a magical vehicle for luscious cured meats, melting cheeses, vegetables, meatballs, and even eggplant parmesan: this is the Italian sandwich in its purest form. This type of sandwich originated in the 1970s in a bar on Ischia, an island off the coast of Naples, under the name 'zingara'. OíMà's owners, Emanuele Vasopollo and Christian Panico, decided to change the name to 'crostone'—something like "big toast"—to better highlight its main selling point: the crunch. The original 'zingara' included Parma ham, Grana Padano cheese, mozzarella, tomato, and lettuce; Vasopollo and Panico serve about 10 varieties of crostoni with different fillings, all named after women in their families. If you want to see how they prepare their mothers' crostoni—Roberta, with mortadella, smoked provola cheese, and pistachio cream, and Assunta, with eggplant parmesan and cooked ham—watch the video above. Subscribe to our channel:    / elcomidistaenelpaÍs   Visit: https://elcomidista.elpais.com Follow us on Facebook:   / elcomidista   Follow us on Twitter:   / elcomidista   Follow us on Instagram:   / elcomidista   Welcome to the official EL COMIDISTA channel in EL PAÍS! Every week we publish new videos about food, recipes, restaurants, products, culinary oddities, and much more. Subscribe to our channel now!:    / elcomidistaenelpaÍs   El Comidista is a really cool website that includes recipes, info about kitchen gadgets, restaurants, products, and any other nonsense its authors come up with.