• 2 focaccias of 32 cm in diameter

Ready in:

• 1 hour and 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 300 gr. type "0" soft wheat flour for dough
• 200 gr. re-milled durum wheat semolina for dough
• 100 gr. potatoes for dough
• 200 gr. mother yeast for dough
• 10 gr. salt for dough
• 50ml. extra virgin olive oil for dough
• 300/350 ml. water for dough
• 400 gr. cherry tomatoes for seasoning
• 20 pickled Baresano olives for seasoning

oregano to taste for seasoning

extra virgin olive oil to taste for seasoning

salt to taste for seasoning

Focaccia is the snack par excellence of the Bari people. There is no time of day when it is better to eat it, in fact in the city's bakeries it is ready from the first morning and the scent it gives off spreads throughout the street. Barese focaccia is the snack par excellence in the Apulian city, it is used to replace lunch or dinner but is eaten at any other time of the day, on a "whim" and it is not uncommon to meet people who enjoy it peacefully on the street, forced to be careful because, with every bite, you run the risk that the tomato could fall and stain your clothes. The kids take it to school, wrapped in oiled paper, to have a snack during recess or when they skip lessons. It is taken to the beach and becomes the meal of a long day spent at the seaside under the umbrella. It is the meal that is consumed during football matches seen in the company of friends, accompanied, in this case by the inevitable mortadella. In short, from early morning until late evening focaccia accompanies the day of the people of Bari. It is difficult to describe every taste sensation that focaccia from Bari transmits, the only way to understand what I am saying is to go into a bakery in Bari and buy it freshly baked or try this recipe. (Text by Sandro Romano – Gastronomer, Journalist, Ambassador of Barese focaccia in the World, Consul for Southern Italy of the Italian Academy of Historical Gastronomy)

Instructions:

To prepare the focaccia from Bari, start by boiling a potato in boiling water, then peel it and mash it with a potato masher. Then pour the "0" soft wheat flour and the re-milled durum wheat semolina into the bowl of a planetary mixer. If you don't have a planetary mixer, pour into a bowl and then knead by hand.

Also add the mashed potato, salt and sourdough in a single 200g piece. (Get it from your trusted baker. Remember that the sourdough starter must have been refreshed for at least 4 hours).

Add a little water and turn the mixer on at low speed, adding the rest of the water little by little. If you find yourself working in a hot environment we recommend adding very cold water, otherwise it will have to be at room temperature. Finally, add the oil, which will serve to give elasticity and crunchiness to the product.

After the first 5 minutes, increase the speed of the mixer and continue kneading for 15 minutes: you will need to work the dough until it comes away from the bowl and is completely smooth and elastic, i.e. when it starts to "crack", the noise the dough makes when it fills with bubbles and is worked quickly.

If you notice that the dough is struggling to detach from the bowl, you can add a pinch of flour to the edges of the mixer bowl to make the operation easier. Be careful not to add too much flour to avoid making the dough too hard.

Once the dough is ready, remove it from the hook. Oil the work surface, which must not be wooden otherwise the oil will leave an indelible stain, and arrange the dough, turning it over to oil it on both sides. Work it just enough to form two balls of about 400 g. moon.

Take a medium-sized tray and oil it, using a brush to spread the oil better. It is important that the tray is not too large to ensure that the two shapes of dough are close together. The close proximity, in fact, will allow it to grow better. Then place the dough balls in the oiled tray.

This is the leavening phase: leave the dough at room temperature, without covering it, for about 8-12 hours. If you are in an environment that exceeds 20°, your dough will rise in 8 hours, if, however, your environment is between 15 and 20° it could take up to 12 hours. After this time you will notice that your dough will have risen and will have formed a light crust on the surface.

To find out if the dough has risen correctly and has not collapsed, you will need to do a test: lightly press the surface of the dough with a finger, the dough should return to its initial shape because it is sufficiently elastic.

Now that your dough is ready, you can roll out and season the focaccia: take a pan with a diameter of 32 cm and oil it, spreading the oil throughout the pan with your hands or a brush. Place a ball of dough in the center, turning it over to oil it on both sides, and press the dough with your fingers to spread it until it covers the entire surface of the pan.

Once the dough has been rolled out, break the cherry tomatoes in half with your hands to let all the juice and seeds drip out and arrange them facing downwards, until they fill the entire surface of the focaccia. Now put the olives, oil them again, add a pinch of salt and some dried oregano.

Cook your focaccia in a preheated static (or ventilated) oven at maximum power for 20-25 minutes. The ideal would be 270°, but if your oven does not reach this temperature, simply set it to maximum power, usually 250°. If you have a baking stone available, place it on the bottom shelf of the oven and preheat for at least 40 minutes.

Once baked, the focaccia should be crunchy and about 1-1.5 cm high.

Credits: baker Giovanni Di Serio, President of the Focaccia Barese Consortium