Creative Artisan Bread Ideas and other goodies

History of Focaccia

The history of Focaccia is tied in with the history of the Mediterranean and of Europe. Focaccia gets it’s name from the Roman “Panis Focacius” which means bread cooked upon a hearth or under the ashes of a fire ¹. Focaccia is thought to develop from Panis Focacius, although the basics of the recipe may, or may not come  from the ancient Greeks or the Etruscans². Either way it’s origins lie in the Mediterranean.  The original recipes for Focaccia were naturally unleavened, which may strengthen the argument for the bread having it’s origins in this area, as  it has the right climate for the bread to ‘naturally’ rise³

In general flat breads were developed in regions where wood burning cooking was prevalent, their purpose was to help take the heat out of the oven before cooking the main meal. Perhaps this is why the bread is now served with the main meal and is traditionally cooked before the meal itself.

Focaccia and Christianity

The earliest recipes found for this bread come from Roman times, where they added a little yeast to make the bread rise depending  how much the climate made the bread rise³. The breads Roman origins, it’s progression and adaptation through out the Mediterranean (particularly Italy and Spain) perhaps suggest why this bread is/was widely used in Roman Catholic ceremonies.

There is some debate as to whether the bread used in the Eucharist can be called an unleavened version of Focaccia. My personal opinion is that the bread used is a  flat bread and in itself cannot be called a Focaccia. The Orthodox Church  does use a leavened bread in it’s ceremonies, which is very similar to Focaccia⁴.

Evolution of Focaccia

As time went by the bread evolved, more yeast was added etc, until in the middle ages something emerged that we would now recognize as Focaccia. Along the way many regional variances developed. Examples of these are the Hogaza in Spain and the Fougasse in France⁵. In the United States Focaccia arguably comes from Italian immigrants to the country. For this reason  Focaccia recipes in the United States and in Europe are practically the same, using garlic and/or rosemary on the top with olive oil spread over it to stop it from drying out.

Focaccia Recipe

Focaccia is usually a simple recipe with little variance in the  ingredients, the debate is around how wet to make the dough. Here is a recipe for a fairly wet dough Focaccia, about the size of an oven baking tray. It is important that you use a strong flour in this recipe as you need a high gluten content.

Focaccia Ingredients

• approx 750g strong white flour
• between 300-400ml of warm water
• teaspoon of dried, fast action yeast
• approx teaspoon of salt

What To Do

• Add the dry ingredients (flour, yeast, salt) together and mix
• form a well, add water gradually, mix in
• should have wet, sticky, stretchy dough
• cover and leave to double in size
• pour onto floured surface
• cover all of dough surface in flour
• transfer to tray with on stick mat on it(easier than it sounds!)
• continuously dip fingers in a bowl of water to shape the bread (avoids sticky fingers)
• put dimples in bread
• add rosemary, salt and olive oil on top
• put into oven preheated to 220-230 degrees C
• after 5 mins turn down to 190
• after 15-20 mins take out and leave to cool

I hope you’ve enjoyed this article, more to follow (videos as well!). Have fun making delicious artisan breads. If you like this have a look at Sourdough Good Luck and Good Baking!

References and Links
1. ^{http://www.bread-maker.net/Bread-Types/Focaccia-Bread.htm}

^{2. http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/focaccia}

3. http://historyofthings.com/history-of-focaccia-bread

4. http://www.answers.com/topic/bread

5. http://www.abigailsbakery.com/bread-recipes/history-of-focaccia-bread