From Liguria with olive oil: How to recognize authentic Italian focaccia

Focaccia isn’t pizza, and it’s not just bread. It’s something uniquely Italian, especially in Genoa, where it’s eaten from morning to night, even dunked in coffee. At Pacificio Antico Forno Patrone, baker Luca Travaglini shares what makes Genovese focaccia so special: its golden crust, rich olive oil, and centuries-old tradition.

CHAPTERS
00:00 Focaccia vs. pizza
00:24 What makes focaccia unique
00:52 Everyday focaccia in Italy
01:10 Meet Luca at the Antico Forno Patrone bakery
01:30 Ingredients & dough prep
02:20 Resting & baking the dough
02:36 Focaccia vs. bread
03:08 Olive oil: Ligurian gold
03:28 Baking & texture secrets
03:55 How Italians eat focaccia
04:17 Dunking in coffee: yay or nay?

CREDITS
Report: Qutaibah Istanbuly
Camera: Maximiliano Billia
Edit: Sophia Harke
Supervising Editor: Hendrik Welling

#dweuromaxx #Italy #focaccia
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Focaccia is Italy’s true national dish! Don’t believe it?
Think pizza is Italy’s culinary showpiece? OK, pizza is popular worldwide. But focaccia is the secret heartbeat of Italian cuisine and is served up every day. Crispy on the outside,
fluffy on the inside, glistening with olive oil. For breakfast? Dunked in coffee? In this video, we reveal the secret of authentic focaccia,
show you the best way to eat it, and tell you what you need to know when preparing it. Baking focaccia is simple, but it takes a lot of love. That’s how it’s done every day
throughout Italy, not just here in Genoa. You can buy it on every street corner,
in many different variations. Today we’re visiting one of many historic bakeries. Focaccia has been baked here for more than a century, and for the last 25 years by Luca Travaglini and his family. Focaccia dough is made with just a few ingredients: yeast, flour, water and salt.
And – very important – plenty of olive oil. The dough is kneaded for about 10 minutes
before Luca checks its consistency. Focaccia is the precursor to pizza and was already known
in Rome more than 2,000 years ago. Luca prepares the individual servings.
The dough needs to rest before baking. Focaccia takes its name from
the Latin word “focus”, meaning hearth. In the past, it was baked on hot stones, but these days,
it’s baked on a greased baking sheet in the oven. So, what’s the difference
between focaccia and normal bread? The dough has now risen for a good hour
and it’s time to prepare the focaccia for baking, with perhaps the most important ingredient: the best olive oil. The Ligurian people are proud of their olive oil.
Although little is produced here, it’s of high quality. Time for the focaccia to go into the oven. As soon as the focaccia comes out of the oven,
it begins its journey into daily Italian life: hardly anything else is eaten
as often and as eagerly in Italy. Some like the simple and classic focaccia Genovese,
while others prefer it generously topped. It’s eaten in the evening, as a snack between meals
or even dipped in coffee for breakfast. What do you think? Dunking focaccia in coffee –
great idea … or no way?