The Kitchen Project | History Project | Contact Us | About Us
|
The History of Focacia Focacia
is sort of half way between Pizza and bread. The word focacia is derived
About foccacia This flat bread topped with spices and other products is related to modern pizza. The basic recipe is thought by some to have orginiated with the Etruscans or Ancient Greeks. "Focaccia
or fougasse, a flat bread which belongs essentially to the northern
shores of the Mediterranean and has its origin in classical antiquity.
In ancient Rome panis focacius denoted a flat bread cooked in the ashes
("focus" meant hearth). These came the term focacia, focaccia
in modern Italian, fougasse in the south of France, and fouace in the
north of France...in France this form of bread had become a luxury item
by the end of the middle ages. It could be, as at Amiens, a simple white
bread; or it could be enriched as in Provence, where 14th and 15th century
documents equate it with placentula, i.e. a sort of cake'. This enrichment
made the product so different from plain bread that in at least one
place it escaped a tax on bread. For many centuries it has had an association
with Christmas Eve and Epiphany...In the Italian context one thing is
obvious, namely that the addition of topping to a plan focaccia would
result in a kind of pizza. However, apart from this aspect, Italian
focaccia has branched out in various directions, both savoury and sweet...Numerous
regional specialties such as the fitascetta of Lombardy, the Tuscan
sticciata, and the schiacciata of Emelia are all descendants. Also,
a focaccia may be made with flavourings such as onion and sage or anise,
or honey, etc."
[ Home ] [ Up ] Click
E-mail the webmaster with questions or comments about this web site.
|