In Liguria, when you mention focaccia, mind and palate immediately turn to the focaccia genovese, the fügássa, which used to be the inseparable companion of Genoa’s dockworkers. But the region also features the piscialandrea, the focaccia with anchovies typical around Imperia. When exploring the various pizzas, focacce and piadine of Italy, you should make sure to try focaccia di Recco and focaccia di Voltri. Also, broadening the concept of focaccia, the türta de gee and the torta pasqualina shouldn’t be missed either.
Focaccia di Recco, the original recipe
Focaccia di Recco is the unmistakable one with cheese. It was recently awarded an IGP recognition. You prepare it with a dough of white flour, extra virgin olive oil, water and salt, which is left to rest for 30 minutes. The dough is then stretched by hand using a circular movement, until it reaches a thickness of less than 0,04 inches. The thin dough is then placed on a greased baking sheet, after which small walnut-size pieces of fresh cheese are scattered on top. At this point, on top of the cheese, another sheet of dough is added and their edges are pressed together with the other sheet of dough to seal them shut. The upper dough is then pinched to create a few little holes and finally the entire focaccia is drizzled with extra virgin olive oil. At this point it is baked at 500-600° F for 4-8 minutes until the surface is golden, with bubbles or brown streaks.
The cheese conundrum
The absence of yeast makes the focaccia di Recco somewhat of an anomaly compared to the leavened focaccia genovese. As far as the cheese is concerned, according to the IGP rules, it must be “creamy in consistency, without the addition of actual cream and able to sustain the thermal stress linked to the cooking conditions, without making strings, creating bubbles or releasing whey.” This focaccia is often reinterpreted a little too “freely,” according to the focaccia di Recco Consortium, with unwarranted additions of yeast and milk in the dough. Also, as far as the choice of cheese is concerned, in ancient times the focaccia di Recco was produced using only prescinseua genovese. Then in the 1800s – given the very limited production of this ingredient – other local cheeses, and later stracchino lombardo and crescenza ligure produced in Masone were used.
The food of fugitives
Focaccia di Recco is ancient. It seems to date back to the 12th century, appearing in a document that mentioned the food Ligurian crusaders brought to the Holy Land. According to the legend, however, the focaccia di Recco originated among the populations between Recco and Camogli; when the Saracen pirates approached, they took refuge in the inland, preparing this poor food with what they found. This would explain how food developed by seafaring populations like those of Recco and its surroundings developed such an “earthy” quality. At the end of the 19th century, the first trattorias opened in Recco, which only offered the focaccia with cheese during the celebration of the day of the dead. That is, until the 20th century, when the focaccia with cheese arrived in Genova and then spread across northwestern Italy.
Focaccia di Voltri, spot the difference
In Voltri, a village now incorporated by Genoa, focaccia is the mainstay of sailors, fishermen and shipyard workers. Brewer’s yeast comes back into play, along with white flour, water, salt and extra virgin olive oil, with which the dough is prepared. It’s left to rest for a few minutes, rolled out with a rolling pin, then left to rise on special shelves sprinkled with polenta meal. The leavening takes about an hour. The disc is then baked on a baking sheet that’s also been sprinkled with polenta meal. The surface is then dotted with the traditional dips made with the fingers, also common on the focaccia genovese. Then it’s drizzled with plenty of extra virgin olive oil and coarse salt. It’s enough to bake it for 10 minutes in a 400° F oven. The result will be a focaccia that is thin but not too dry. The “dry” variation can also be found in the market. The focaccia di Voltri is an ancient food, a close relative of the similar focaccette from nearby Crevari, although the Crevari focaccette belong to the family of the fried focacce.
And... Torta Pasqualina!
As for the türta de gee genovese, we are faced with a completely different preparation. It’s a savory pie filled with chard, very similar to the erbazzone reggiano and the pizza with escarole from Naples. In addition to chard, here too, prescinseua cheese comes back into play, in addition to the inevitable extra virgin olive oil. With the torta pasqualina genovese, on the other hand, the dough is not leavened. It’s made with 33 layers of very thin dough, according to tradition, while the filling, in along with chard, features eggs, marjoram and prescinseua cheese. But there are also versions with greens, peas, chives and artichokes.