Perfect Focaccia

My favorite puffy, chewy, delightfully “everything you could want” Italian bread

Source: Linda Lum

What Is Focaccia?

Pronunciation: foh-kah-chuh

• A large, round, flat Italian bread.
• A flat oven-baked Italian bread product, similar in style and texture to pizza dough.
• A beautiful golden Italian flatbread made of yeast, flour, water, fruity olive oil, and sea salt. They are humble ingredients, but the sum is much more magnificent than the individual parts.

Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods; and good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts. — James Beard (American cookbook author, teacher, syndicated columnist and television personality)

What’s in a Name?

Etymologists tell us that the name ‘focaccia’ is derived from focus, the hearth on which this popular flatbread was baked by ancient Romans. And because of the vast extent of the Roman Empire, panis focacius (hearth bread) spread all around the Mediterranean.