Hello and welcome back to The Stone Soup Cook–so glad you’re here!
Today, I’m continuing my Lenten exploration of foods of the Bible, starting with bread. So far, I have featured pizza dough and my basic yeast bread. Today, I am taking a dive into the world of focaccia–and finding out that I’m going to have to do a little more exploration…darn it.
Way back in the late 1990’s, Mr. Stone Soup and I took our first trip to Italy. We flew into Milan and immediately boarded a train to the Cinque Terre–those five lovely little villages right on the Ligurian Sea that eventually became impassably crowded as a result of travel show endorsements. Our first trip to the villages was magical. Travel shows had only recently discovered the area, and we were traveling in the off-season, so we enjoyed the tranquility and hospitality of the quaint villages and their equally charming residents, without the crushing waves of tourists bent on experiencing every delight offered by the villages in three hours or less, who flooded the villages in later years.
We arrived in Vernazza on a Saturday afternoon, dead tired and jet-lagged, but ready for an adventure. It was on that trip that I realized that even one “carry-on” and a tote bag were too much to carry in those little Medieval towns–there are no elevators and getting anywhere requires you to climb about 1,500 stair steps. Kidding. But only a little. After that, I learned to pack into a little bag that’s about 17″ square and I’m a much, much happier person. But I digress.
That evening, we dined on anchovies caught just feet from where we dined and enjoyed fresh salads, fresh bread, fresh pasta and something wonderful for dessert that I’m sure I don’t remember because we also drank lots of the local wine that evening. After a decent night’s sleep, we awoke at an absurdly early hour because of our jet lag. It was a Sunday morning and not being locals, we had no idea when church services were, but it was of little matter because even though it was light out, there was absolutely no one out and about. As luck would have it, we had arrived the day that the time changed to daylight saving hours. We were told by a gentleman we met on the square that this was the first time Italy had gone on daylight saving time, and that no one had bothered with it. A quick search on the internet today dispelled this claim, but it does make for a good story! In any case, we were dying for some coffee and breakfast and while the Italians do coffee (oh boy, do they do coffee!!), they do breakfast, not so much.
We stumbled around the square and the only thing open was a Tabac, which also had a bar attached. A Tabac is a shop that is licensed to sell tobacco, of which there is (or at least was, the last time we were there) a lot in Italy. This particular Tabac was basically a convenience store where you could get some snack items, some souvenirs and cigarettes, but it also had a bar where we could get coffee. We both eagerly ordered cappuccinos and then looked around for something to eat. The only thing that looked at all like “breakfast” were small round, flat loaves of focaccia. Mr. Stone Soup got one with olives. I demurred, but when Mr. Stone Soup swooned after tasting it, I took a bite of it and, well…oh my. Just oh my! Crisp and chewy with the savory-salty of the olives and the olive oil and salt coating the outside–just, oh my. We went back for more and then sat on the square enjoying the view of the Ligurian Sea in the morning light. It was a little bit of magic on a quiet Sunday morning:
This is a picture of a picture of the quaint square in Vernazza on that early Sunday morning. We just sat there and took it all in. Eventually, the town came to life and we began our exploration of the villages, but we will never forget that first morning, enjoying our cappuccinos and focaccia. It was that morning that I became obsessed with focaccia. Not going to lie–I’m still trying to perfect it.
Today, I’m sharing a version of focaccia that is good, but not perfect. It’s one that I cobbled together from several recipes. My goal is to come up with a method of making focaccia bread that is authentically delicious, but not too daunting for an average home cook, such as myself. This one is not bad–it takes about 5.5 hours from start to finish and is tasty, but…it’s not quite right. I’m going to try an overnight method tonight and hopefully report on it later this week or early next. I’ll get it right, or die trying 😉
Tune in tomorrow for more fun with bread–
Until then–peace, love and good food!
Keri
