A Tale of Two Focaccias

[Smithy]

Earlier this week I was in our local Co-op and admiring the selection of artisan breads. We have so many more good local bakeries (where local = within 50 miles) than we did even 5 years ago! Two loaves caught my eye:

 

 

and 

 

Lake Ave Restaurant is one of our better restaurants, but this loaf brought me up short. Focaccia? Really, that fat thing? That's what they call it. Here's the label on the back side of the bag:

 

 

Well, I was in the mood for good bread and experimentation, and the ingredients look good for both these loaves. I bought one of each.

 

The Coco Artisan Breads focaccia had a fairly oily surface, but an open and tender crumb:

 

 

The Lake Ave "focaccia" has a fine and tight crumb. And that loaf is fatter than I associate with focaccia!

 

 

 

Alas, I wasn't quick enough to use or freeze the Coco focaccia. It made a couple of fine sandwiches, but as of today the rest is feeding the birds due to mold growth.

 

I've been working on the Lake Ave foccacia: sandwiches, closed or open-faced. I may use some of it for panini. I may use the rest for croutons. The flavor is...okay...a little too strong on the pepper and roasted garlic for my tastes. I won't get it again. I will get the Coco focaccia again, until and unless I get back into making my own.

 

I'm surprised that both of these loaves are labeled as focaccia. What do you think?

 

 

 

 

Edited December 5 by Smithy
Corrected title spelling (log)

[donk79]

I will not call myself a focaccia expert, but the LA bread is certainly not what I expect of focaccia.  I'm curious what someone with more knowledge of the history of focaccia would say.

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

One of the few things I'm good at baking is focaccia and I wouldn't consider that focaccia. Maybe 'focaccia inspired Italian loaf' or some other marketing label but not real focaccia.

 

 

[ElsieD]

I too make focaccia fairly regularly and mine doesn't look like either of them.  I use a Peter Reinhart recipe, and it is usually baked in a square pan.  I also bake it as buns.  I don't know if this still qualifies as focaccia, but I also take the same recipe, add raisins and dried cranberries and bake it in a pain de mie pan.  Whenever we visit 2 particular family members, they always ask for a loaf.  Like so:

Edited December 1 by ElsieD
Fixed typo (log)

[rotuts]

I think the first loaf is more focaccia like .

 

the second might be a regular loaf , that's more moist than ' bread '

 

w a focaccia like top.

 

if the second toasts up to something nice 

 

that's a win .  but might need to spend time in the refrigerator 

 

( The Horror ! )

 

between toastings.

[AlaMoi]

"classically" focaccia  is a sorta' flat bread with an open crumb - using various "seasonings"

 

but definitions only invite deviations - and imho - if a bread tastes good - just eat it, and enjoy!

 

not much different than "pizza" - go to up/down/east/west Italy - you'll find a wild variation of what is baked/sold/eaten as "pizza" - they're all good.  forget the name, enjoy the pizza!  feel free to have your own preference(s)

[liuzhou]

According to the Oxford Companion to food, focaccia doesn't have a fixed form.

 

Quote

Italian focaccia has branched out in various directions, both savoury and sweet. The term can now mean a dish called torta made by alternating layers of dough with savoury layers. It can also mean sweet confections made with raised pastry. Numerous regional specialities such as the fitascetta of Lombardy, the Tuscan stiacciata, and the schiacciata of Emilia are all descendants. Also, a focaccia may be made with flavourings such as onion and sage or anise, or honey, etc.

 

 

[Mjx]

'Focaccia' does mean different things in different parts of Italy, and there's also been drift in the use of the term over time: for example, there are baked goods that were called 'foccaccia' in Florence when I was a kid, but no longer are, at least, not by everyone, and in some places, there are things now called 'foccaccia' that once had other names. I'm fairly certain that this is at least partly due to the increase in tourism, and efforts to make things more recognizable/appealing to foreign tourists.