Focaccia ( , , ; lij, fugassa ; nap, label= Barese, fecazze ) is a

flat Flat or flats may refer to: Architecture * Flat (housing), an apartment in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and other Commonwealth countries Arts and entertainment * Flat (music), a symbol () which denotes a lower pitch * Flat (soldier), ...

leavened Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour (usually wheat) and water, usually by baking. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cultures' diet. It is one of the oldest human-made food ...

oven-baked Italian

bread Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour (usually wheat) and water, usually by baking. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cultures' diet. It is one of the oldest human-made f ...

, similar in style and texture to

pizza Pizza (, ) is a dish of Italian origin consisting of a usually round, flat base of leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomatoes, cheese, and often various other ingredients (such as various types of sausage, anchovies, mushrooms, onions ...

; in some places, it is called ("white pizza"). Focaccia can be served as a side dish or as sandwich bread and it can be round, rectangular, or square shape.

Etymology and terminology

In Ancient Rome, was a flat bread baked on the

hearth A hearth () is the place in a home where a fire is or was traditionally kept for home heating and for cooking, usually constituted by at least a horizontal hearthstone and often enclosed to varying degrees by any combination of reredos (a lo ...

. The word is derived from the Latin 'hearth, place for baking'. The basic recipe is thought by some to have originated with the Etruscans, but today it is widely associated with Ligurian cuisine, while outside Liguria the word usually refers to the Genoese variants. The first attestation of the word dates back to the

14th century As a means of recording the passage of time, the 14th century was a century lasting from 1 January 1301 ( MCCCI), to 31 December 1400 ( MCD). It is estimated that the century witnessed the death of more than 45 million lives from political and n ...

. Focaccia is sometimes considered to be a kind of pizza, though focaccia is left to rise after being flattened, while pizza is baked immediately.

Regional variants

Focaccia genovese

(' Genoese focaccia'), marked by its finger-sized holes on its surface ( in Genoese dialect), is brushed or sprinkled with

olive oil Olive oil is a liquid fat obtained from olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea''; family Oleaceae), a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin, produced by pressing whole olives and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking: f ...

, coarse salt, and sometimes water before the final rise. In Genoa, focaccia is eaten in the morning at breakfast or during the day. It is often dipped in milk or in cappuccino at breakfast and eaten warm and wet. Focaccia_Genovese_01

Ligurian variants

Focaccia has countless variations along the Ligurian coast, from the biscuit-hard ('dry focaccia') to the corn-flour, oily, soft Voltri version, some bearing little resemblance to the Genoese version. An extreme example is ('focaccia with cheese'), also called or , which is made in Recco, near Genoa. This version has stracchino cheese sandwiched between two layers of paper-thin dough. Other versions have a surface covered with sauce or ham. Focaccia di Recco - Tradizionale

Other variants

In Northwest Italy, a popular variant is ('sweet focaccia'), which is sprinkled lightly with sugar, and may include raisins or

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...

. In Northeast Italy, ('Venetian focaccia') is typical for Easter; it is based on eggs, sugar and butter and it is similar to panettone and pandoro. In South Tyrol and the Austrian village of Krimml, (locally ) is a traditional Easter gift from godparents to their godchildren. It is made slightly thinner in the centre so that dyed eggs can be placed there. The traditional variant from

Bari Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...

, , is prepared with

durum wheat Durum wheat (), also called pasta wheat or macaroni wheat (''Triticum durum'' or ''Triticum turgidum'' subsp. ''durum''), is a Polyploid, tetraploid species of wheat. It is the second most cultivated species of wheat after common wheat, although ...

flour and topped with tomatoes.

Focaccia al rosmarino

('focaccia with rosemary') is topped with rosemary. It may be served as an antipasto, table bread, or snack. Whole or sliced fresh rosemary leaves may be used, as can dried rosemary. It may be garnished with sprigs of fresh rosemary after baking and sprinkled with salt. Potato rosemary focaccia is often called "potato pizza" in New York City. Although rosemary is the most common

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

used to flavor focaccia,

sage Sage or SAGE may refer to: Plants * ''Salvia officinalis'', common sage, a small evergreen subshrub used as a culinary herb ** Lamiaceae, a family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint or deadnettle or sage family ** ''Salvia'', a large ...

is also used, and the variant is called . may have a moist texture, and the exact recipe varies. It may be savory or sweet. It is typically baked, although it is sometimes fried. Garlic or basil may be added. It is sometimes served accompanied with slices of . It may be used in the preparation of sandwiches. File:Focaccia al rosmarino.jpg, Slices of File:Focaccia con rosmarino.jpg, A close-up view of

Etymology and terminology

Regional variants

Focaccia genovese

Ligurian variants

Other variants

Focaccia al rosmarino

See also

Notes

References

Further reading