How to Make Focaccia

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Ciao Italianista, did you know that focaccia is the oldest and still most popular of Ligurian foods? Ligurians start the day with cappuccino and focaccia. Make focaccia the same day you make fresh pesto and dip the focaccia into the pesto all day for a delicious vegetarian treat.

The classic focaccia all’olio is a low leavened bread with dimples to hold the oil and sprinkled with rock salt. You can also season it with fresh rosemary, sage, onions, and olives.

Fresh herbs define Ligurians cooking and distinguish it from other Italian cuisines. Every Ligurian kitchen will have fresh basil, marjoram, parsley, thyme, and rosemary.

But even within Liguria, you can’t really talk about one cuisine. Campanilismo, or my village knows best, rules Liguria. This means that there is not a unified cuisine but rather a group of common ingredients and techniques used to make similar dishes.

Liguria also consists of two contrasting geographies: the seaside and the entroterra, or inland. The cuisine and culture of the seaside and entroterra are very different even though they are only a few miles apart.

However, you can find delicious focaccia in all parts of Liguria. It is a very ancient bread first mentioned in the Book of Kings in 350 BC. The name focaccia, or fugassa in Ligurian, comes from the Latin focacius, meaning cooked under ashes or fire.

Focaccia is associated with the hearth (a symbol of family, food, and life) and appeasing deities. The making of focaccia is considered an art. A document from the year 1312 in Genoa laid down rules for its ingredients and describes the stones it was to be cooked on.

The recipe I am going to share with you now, from Italo and Anna Maccarini of Panificio Maccarini in San Rocca di Camogli, doesn’t call for salt in the dough. I thought that was strange and compared it to other recipes which all do have salt in the dough. I put a lot of rock salt on top and it was delicious and I didn’t even notice that there wasn’t salt in the dough. However, feel free to modify this recipe by adding a teaspoon of salt to the bigger flour mound that you mix into the sponge.

Focaccia

How to make focaccia. A typical bread from Liguria, Italy.

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Course Appetizer, Bread

Cuisine Italian, Ligurian

Ingredients

  

• 4 cups or 500 g flour
• 2 tbsp dry yeast
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp malt syrup (optional)
• olive oil extra virgin
• rock salt

Instructions

 

• Sift the flour into two mounds of about 1/5 and 4/5 the amount, each in separate bowls.
• Dissolve the yeast, sugar and malt in about 3/4 cup tepid water.
• Form a well in the smaller mound of flour and add the dissolved yeast mixture.
• Mix slowly and knead for about 5 minutes.
• Cover with a cloth and set aside to rise in a warm spot for about 3 hours to develop into a starter.
• When the starter has risen and become spongy and porous, place it in the larger mound of flour.
• Add about 1 cup of water.
• Incorporate the flour and knead for about 7 minutes, adding warm water as needed, until the dough is smooth and elastic.
• Cover with a clean towel and set aside to rise in a warm spot for 2 to 3 hours.
• Generously oil a round or rectangular pan (the largest that will fit into your oven), preferably one with a thick bottom.
• Stretch the dough into the pan, pressing down firmly with your fingers to make inentations every 1/2 inch.
• Mix a pinch of salt with about 3 tablespoons water and 3 tablespoons olive oil.
• When the salt has partially dissovled, drizzle the mixture over the dough and work it into the indentations with your fingers.
• Preheat the oven to 450° F/230° C.
• Allow the dough to sit for about ½ hour, then bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the focaccia is golden.
• Serve hot or at room temperature. Enjoy!

Keyword Artisan Bread, Bread, focaccia, Liguria, Pane

Pair this with the pesto you made last time for a delicious snack. Buon appetito!

con amore,
Justine