Focaccia

The traditional Italian focaccia wheat tortilla, whose name literally translates from Latin panis focacius means bread baked in the hearth, is customary to cook on the basis of various types of dough. So, it can be yeast dough, which is the basis for pizza, or fresh butter. It is worth noting that the dough for the preparation of traditional focacci in its composition contains three ingredients: wheat flour, drinking water and olive oil.

The finished focaccia can be round or rectangular in shape, as well as thin (mainly) or thick enough, which primarily depends on the preference of the baker. Sometimes milk is added to the focaccia cake dough, which makes the finished product more magnificent. In order for focaccia to be more thin and crisp, yeast is not added to the dough.

In modern Italy, focaccia is considered to be the oldest universal form of pizza, which played the role of ordinary food for peasants and ancient warriors. Interestingly, some authors even claim that the focaccia tortilla is the real predecessor of pizza.

The method of cooking focacci is almost identical to cooking pizza, but the first one is baked much faster and at high temperatures (280-320 degrees). It, like pizza, is placed in the oven and taken out of there on a shovel, but the difference is that only the edges of the finished pizza are bloated, while focaccia rises completely, bloating with tubercles. The calorie content of focacci can vary, but averages approximately 320 kcal per 100 grams of flour product.

According to tradition, focaccia is seasoned with Italian herbs (basil or oregano), while olive oil or salt is used as the simplest filling. More complex versions of the focacci filling include the addition of spicy herbs, cheeses, tomatoes, olives, onions or even fruits. Most of the fillers are put in the cake before baking, although the exception is garlic, fresh greens and olive oil, which are added after the hot cake is ready.

Each region of Italy is characterized by its own traditional way of cooking focacci. For example, Genoese or Focaccia genovese looks like a thin tortilla, which is seasoned with olive oil, salt, and much less often onions.

In honor of the town of Recco in Liguria, the Focaccia di Recco is named, which consists of two layers of unusually thin dough, inside which there is cheese and thinly chopped smoked sausage, and on top the tortilla is sprinkled with a rather spicy seasoning (garlic or pepper).

In addition, Focaccia alla barese, typical of southern Italy, is known, served with tomatoes and olives. And the sweet version of focacci is called Focaccia veneta and is considered a typical Easter sweet in the Veneto region.