You don't need a silver fork to eat good food.—Chef Paul Prudhomme.
Food Stories is a journey of the love of food. So far, we have focused on cuisines from the subcontinent but this week, we take a detour.
I have always enjoyed Italian food, but my liking developed into a deep appreciation when I visited the country last summer.
Italians are a passionate people hence their love affair with food is very much like ours. Their cooking reflects the strength of a home and family, the influence of generations past and an enthusiasm for creation; they are also the best hosts.
A daytrip to the Cinque Terre in the Liguria region led me on a delightful journey of taste and sight. Cinque Terra is a string of five fishing villages sitting atop the Italian Riviera. Beautiful beyond belief, the first village welcomed me with the smell of fresh focaccia bread.
 |
The Italian baker offered me spinach and olive focaccia bread fresh out of the oven. I asked him to pack me a few more flavoured focaccia breads, namely garlic, pesto and sundried tomato, (all featured below). I picked up three bottles of Italian olive oil from outside the focaccia bakery and exchanged phone numbers with the baker, a good baker is hard to find; and that too, an Italian one!
Hence today we focus on the most delicious and most basic of Italian foods, the focaccia bread.
Focaccia is a flatbread; plain from the inside and capped with herbs, seasoning, cheese, olives and a host of toppings.
 |
According to many historians, Focaccia originated from ancient Greece or with the Etruscans of North Central Italy before the establishment of the Roman Kingdom.
Flatbreads have been baked throughout the Middle Eastern region extending to Persia. Historically, focaccia was unleavened and its natural formula rose in the right climate, therefore the speculation that this bread was first created by inland people.
The Romans used to mix a simple recipe of rough flour, water, olive oil, a small amount of candida and salt. It might have been seasoned with herbs but was plain in most cases.
Then, it was baked on fire, torn and hand dipped in salty soups. Focaccia-style breads were mostly consumed by the slaves within the Roman Empire, and in the middle-ages, focaccia was a popular bread and served at most Catholic celebrations.
Focaccia bread is believed to be the original pizza.
I have always been a fan of bread, so my search for the perfect focaccia bread led me to my Italian friend, Robert. One of our foodie discussions led him to part with his cherished focaccia bread and pizza dough recipe.
It is an absolute hit with my taste testers, my children. I make this dough as both focaccia bread and pizza dough base, it rises perfectly, tastes authentically Italian and is unbelievably easy to make.
 |
Here it is from my kitchen to yours.
Ingredients for dough
1½ cups flour
1 cup Greek yogurt (homemade yogurt is a great substitute for Greek yogurt)
1 ½ tsp baking powder
Salt to taste
Procedure
Mix all four ingredients, knead for 6-8 minutes, oil the surface and form into a round disc with a rolling pin.
For personal-sized focaccia bread (or pizza) spread into two nine inch discs, spread with toppings and bake in a pre-heated 450 degree oven for 10-12 minutes.
For a large pizza or bread, spread into one large disc, pour toppings and bake at same temperature and length of time.
 |
Garlic topping
Chop fresh garlic, fry in olive oil, salt, a hint of crushed red chili, spread on bread, top with chopped cilantro and hint of cheese and then bake.
Sun dried tomatoes
 |
2 lbs tomatoes, sliced, sprinkled with salt and placed evenly on a baking pan in a pre-heated oven at 300 degrees.
Consider them done when they are almost dry and appear dark red and leathery.
Spread olive oil on the bread, sprinkle sun dried tomatoes lavishly with cheese and place in the oven. Premade sundried tomatoes in olive oil and pesto in olive oil make for a great topping too.
Get innovative with toppings, surely that’s the fun part about making focaccia bread. Fresh out of the oven, this one is bound to become one of your household favourites.
Explore more food stories here.
—Photos by Fawad Ahmed