At Marinetta in Genoa, dozens line up for the bakery’s famous focaccia – elderly people in slippers, ladies with shopping trolleys, and even distinguished gentlemen in suits and ties. Smilin, they all eventually drop a coin into the cash register when told “50cent di focaccia.” Customers walk out content, a greasy package in hand encasing warm, fragrant bread.
Marinetta dal 1946
An obligatory stop on a trip to Genoa (or anywhere in Liguria, for that matter) is undoubtedly a focacceria to bite into a slice – or rather a strip – of greasy, moist, salty, crunchy, soft, fragrant focaccia. Making it is a challenge, even for those who make it best.
The recipe has a tendency for creating controversy among bakers, but almost anyone can agree on one thing: to try the best, you must go to Genoa's Voltri neighborhood. Since 1946, Marinetti Bakery – has opened its doors every morning at dawn. They make focaccia alla genovese the classic way: dense and greasy, plain or with onions – no cheese, which would make it focaccia col formaggio. it costs 10€ per kilo, though the focaccia is so light that a whole baking sheet of it weighs about 800 g per splendid square meter.
Girl power
Emanuela Demarchi smiles from her post behind the counter. She's the third generation from a heritage of women who have “focaccia making” in their blood. As a journalist with a past as a well-known consultant and local reporter, she left everything just a few years ago to take the reins of the family bakery from her mother, and to pass on the secret of the perfect focaccia to her two daughters. The family bakery survived three floods – two destroyed the premises and one took away a part of the family. But giving in to the vicissitudes of life? Emanuela just didn't feel like it. To protect the bakery from further damage, Demarchi armored everything with submarine doors so they are able to carry on the family tradition. The shop’s name, Marinetta, is owed to Emanuela’s grandmother. Her father, Cesare, still works at the bakery, kneading away at the ripe age of eighty and her mother acts as a professional “taste-tester” on her visits.
There is no need for marketing or communication strategies at Marinetta – the focaccia speaks for itself. An American customer once brought an empty suitcase to fill with focaccia prior to his flight back to the United States. I’m even guilty of slipping some into my bag – though it was transported by train to Milan, frozen and later thawed in a pan.
The recipe
To make focaccia alla genovese, one needs a high-temperature oven – an appliance that most standard homes don't have. Regardless, the recipe is no secret and it’s shared willingly.
Ingredients for two pans of focaccia
2 lb. all-purpose flour
1 oz. salt
2 glasses of water
10 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
½ oz. malt extract
2 oz. brewer's yeast
Dissolve the yeast in cool water. Add the malt and then knead with the flour and let it rest for 15 minutes. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin and place it in the baking tin. Let it rest for another 15 minutes.
Use your fingers to form craters on the surface and sprinkle with salt. Let rise for another hour or so in a warm and humid place, away from open drafts or windows.
Mix the oil with ½ cup water and distribute it on the surface of the focaccia, letting it settle in the previously formed craters.
Bake for 6 minutes at 550° F.