Italy Part 10

Oh, focaccia, how I "knead" you!


There is a reason that wheat is the number one consumed grain in the world: bread! In my last entry I blabbed on about pasta, but in all honesty I think bread takes the cake as the world's most widely consumed wheat-based foods. And for good reason! In my experience, I would say that most Westerners prefer bread that rises in the oven into a soft starchy dome, and is many times eaten with most meals. For example, toast or bagels for breakfast, sandwiches at lunch, hot rolls at dinner.  As a kid I started the habit of eating my bread from the inside out, meaning I pull out the soft, doughy insides of a slice first, saving the crunchy crust for the last bites. Italians like bread too! But, then again, don't they like all things made from processed white flour?  Putting pizza and pasta aside for a second, let us reflect on possibly the best bread in the world: Focaccia (p. 139).

In the beginning, the yeast awakens with a bit of caster sugar and warm water.
Yeast allows for the producing of carbon dioxide gas, which acts as a leavening agent.

After mixing the active yeast with the dry bread flour, a bit of olive oil and salt, and more warm water,
the dough is dumped out onto a floured surface and kneaded for about 8 minutes, so roll those sleeves up!
Kneading allows for long strings of elastic wheat protein, known as gluten, to form.
Gather the stretchy dough into a ball and place into a greased bowl.
Cover with a tea towel and let rise in a warm spot (I prefer the top of my fridge).
After about an hour, its size should be doubled! 

The next steps involve "punching" the dough (releasing all of the carbon dioxide gases that have
 become trapped in stretchy dough pockets) and divide the mass in half, for making two loaves.
I froze one half of the dough at this point to be used for a future occasion!
Then, roll out gently and place in a bake pan and let rise- again- this time for 2 hours.  

What endurance yeast has!
You can see that the dough has doubled in size again.
This time, smother with olive oil, and if you are feeling extra spunky, add other
toppings like olives, rosemary, sea salt... 

Then, throw into a preheated oven set to 425 degrees and bake for 20 minutes.
Note: When it is comes out golden and moist, immediately transfer to a cooling rack to keep the crust crisp. 

Eat within 6 hours or cut and freeze for later.
You can see here that it was consumed within minutes of coming out of the oven, warm and fragrant,
as a wonderful accompaniment to more starchy white stuff, pasta! In this case, Bucatini alla norma. 
Focaccia can also be enjoyed as sandwich bread or topped with butter and jam for a unique twist for breakfast.
Leftovers would be also be excellent with soup or baked with a top layer of shredding, sharp cheese and fresh herbs.

What is the difference between bread flour and all-purpose flour? 
Bread flour is preferred for some leavened dough products because it produces a lighter dough with greater elastic properties. This higher stretch characteristic is achievable because bread flour has a higher protein content versus all-purpose flour. This higher protein content allows for longer, stronger strains of gluten, as well as a higher gluten content, which helps the dough to rise during baking and hold its shape and structure. If you don't have bread flour for a recipe, you can substitute using all-purpose flour but beware because all-purpose flour requires less water! So start with less liquid than a recipe calls for and add it slowly. Making this focaccia was my first experience using bread flour and I have to admit, I notice a huge difference is how light and fluffy the final product turns out.