Basic focaccia (Emmanuel Hadjiandreou's recipe)

Do you know somebody who doesn't like focaccia? I don't. And I have even seen many people avidly eating not so good versions of focaccia...
Because focaccia is one of those amazing creation of Italian cuisine in front of which it is impossible to say "no, thanks", sometimes even if it's not the best.
Not only focaccia is delicious and comforting, but it is incredibly versatile.
It's a perfect snack on its own at any time of the day and in almost all situations (at work, at school, on the beach, for a picnic) but it goes also well as a substitute for bread in any type of sandwich.
Can be served in a buffet or in a more formal, seated dinner.
It's the simplest yet ideal amuse buche, but it is also the perfect addition to any bread basket.
And it may be a tasty impromptu dinner when there is an empty fridge and no willing to shop and cook.

Focaccia with cherry tomatoes

I find the science of making bread very fascinating. 

And somehow poetic is the Italian expression used to call it, "arte bianca" meaning "the white art", where white obviously refers to the color of flour (at least the type most commonly used ) while the word art emphasizes how valuable and noble this activity is.

Even if I have been cooking and baking for many years, only recently I started practicing in making bread and similar baked goods. The reason of this late approach to this field is that I was somehow scared to try: I thought that making bread was a complicated job, just for experts, and I also considered almost necessary to have an electric mixer.

But then, a couple of years ago, I finally found the courage to try. To make it easier (and don't risk much) I started with one of the several possible versions of the so called no-knead-bread, where most of the work is made by yeast and time. Luckily results were satisfying enough after the very first attempts - in fact, in case of initial failures, I am not sure whether I would have continued making bread - so that now I bake on my own most of the bread, as well as other baked goods, we have at home. And to be honest, eating so often homemade bread I've become much more demanding and selective when it comes to buy it from shops (and there aren't many shop-bought breads that we really like now).

Basic focaccia (Locatelli's foolproof focaccia)

Focaccia is one of the most popular baked goods in Italy, very simple and versatile: it can be stuffed inside or left plain, topped with sea salt and olive oil, rosemary or other herbs and sometimes with finely sliced olives or onions or cherry tomatoes. Like many other types of food, each Italian region has its own type of focaccia, with different preparation methods (and often even different ingredients) as well as diverse toppings or fillings; some types are even considered cake.

Focaccia originated from the Northern shores of Mediterranean (most historians believes it was introduced either by the Etruscans of North Central Italy prior to the Roman Empire or in Ancient Greece), and slowly spread into the cultures of Greece and Rome where it was very widely used.  The name ‘Focaccia’ is derived from the Roman words “panis focacius”, where "panis" simply means bread while "focacius" is the Latin word for center of fireplace, that is where this popular food was cooked (focus means fire in Latin). And given this origin it is not hard to believe that this flat bread, initially simply topped with spices, olive oil and other products, gradually morphed into one of the most famous Italian meals – pizza.

Focaccia's basic ingredients are very simple and actually remained unchanged from its origin until now: flour, water, salt, a small quantity of yeast and, one of the most important elements, olive oil, which was added to the top of the dough as a mean to preserve its moisture after baking. Through the centuries, most of the Italian regions have managed to modify original focaccia recipe and adapt to their regional and local tastes and ingredients; as a consequence the focaccia recipe has fragmented into countless variations, with some bearing little resemblance to its original form.