In this country, we have bakeries. In Italy, they have focaccerias. I’m a focaccia fan. The flatbread hails from the Mediterranean coast. Its roots, I learned, date to antiquity.

“In ancient Rome panis focacius denoted a flatbread cooked in the ashes,” writes food historian and author Alan Davidson in The Penguin Companion to Food (Penguin Books, 2002). In ancient Rome, focus meant hearth. There followed the term focacia, and ultimately focaccia in modern Italian.

Residents of the south of France have their own version of the yeasted flat bread: fougasse.

Focaccia and extra virgin olive oil are a natural pair. Olive oil is used as an ingredient. And olive oil frequently is drizzled or spread on top of the dough to keep it moist.

The toppings are countless – from EVOO and sea salt to herbs, onions, cheese, vegetables and meat. The sky’s the limit. Although from our standpoint, less is more. The one pictured here is topped with fresh rosemary.

Olive oil expert Fran Gage developed a focaccia featuring pumpkin seeds and thyme. They’re mixed into the dough. One of her favorite bakeries makes loaves of bread studded with pumpkin seeds.

“It was an inspiration for this focaccia,” Gage writes in her book The New American Olive Oil (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2009).

Gage suggests using a medium or robust EVOO. The latter includes our  Olio Nuovo and our Arbosana. But I’m sure any good EVOO would do the trick.

Bon appétit,

Claude S. Weiller
Vice President of Sales & Marketing
California Olive Ranch

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