L'Italo-Americano

www.italoamericano.org 32 L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2019 LA BUONA TAVOLA RECIPES COOKING TIPS SEASONAL DISHES Focaccia Genovese shouldn't be too thick (Copyright: Dreamstime) Continued form page 30 Pressing with the tips of your fingers, create little dimples all over the surface of your focaccia. Sprinkle the dough with coarse salt and, if using, rosemary lea- ves. Bake in a hot (200C/400F) pre-heated oven for 20-30 minu- tes, until the focaccia is golden brown on top. Let the focaccia cool on a baking grid. Serve still warm or at room temperature. Notes on focaccia Genovese Rising times may vary accor- ding to the weather. When the ambient temperature is cooler, your initial rise may take 3 hours r a t h e r t h a n 2 , i n w a r m e r weather, you may find 90 minu- tes sufficient. Of course, you can always let the dough go a bit longer if you like, no harm done. In some recipes, you let the dough made with only the one cup of the flour ferment for 2 hours, before adding the rest of t h e f l o u r a n d l e t t i n g i t r e s t another 2 hours. This initial fer- mented paste is referred to as a biga or "chariot" in Italian, not sure why. A biga does add cha- r a c t e r t o y o u r d o u g h , b u t whether it's worth an extra few hours of your time is up to you. The same variability goes for the second and third rises in the baking pan. The second rise, though, is really more of a rest, serving to soften the dough up so it can easily be spread out to cover the whole pan. The third is an actual rise. You'll want to see the dough rather nicely puf- fed up, the better to make those d i m p l e s , w h e r e t h e o i l w i l l puddle, giving your focaccia Genovese its characteristic look and mouth feel. Also important to that mouth f e e l : c o o l i n g y o u r f o c a c c i a Genovese on a baking grid. That will let air circulate above and below, so the bottom crust stays nice and crispy. Thick or thin? The thickness of a focaccia can vary, too, but an authentic focaccia genovese should be rather thin, even if it needn't be quite as thin as my version pre- sented here. So many non-Ita- lian renditions of "focaccia" are more like bread in their thick- ness. And the most disappoin- ting ones lack the characteristic undulating crispy crust. At that point, you are are no longer dea- ling with focaccia, it's just oily b r e a d . Y o u l o s e t h e w h o l e charm of the dish: the balance between the crispiness of the crust and the tenderness of the crumb. Frank is a lawyer with a true passion for cooking and sharing food with the people he loves. He inherited his love for Italian cuisine and culinary tradition from his grandmother, nonna Angelina, to whom he dedicated his culinary blog, Memorie di Angelina: www.memoriediange- lina.com

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