#thepastryadventure : June 2017 : Focaccia Bread

Focaccia is a style of bread made popular in Italy, and spreading around the world wherever Italian settlers and traders have formed communities. A range of varieties of focaccia exist, and in the 21st century new varieties have been created due to the versatility of the basic recipe.

Most historians believe Focaccia originated with either the Etruscans of North Central Italy prior to the Roman Empire forming, or in Ancient Greece at the beginning of the first millennium BC, though flat unleavened bread has been made throughout the Middle East and extending to Persia for this long as well so identifying a specific culture responsible for the first focaccia loaves is almost impossible. That said, focaccia is slightly different in that the loaf does rise slightly so is not a traditional unleavened bread, and the focaccia recipe is mostly unknown in the Middle East, yet has a history of being prepared in Turkey, Greece, Italy, France, and Spain.

We do know that the name Focaccia is directly derived from the Roman words “panis focacius”. Panis simply means bread, and shouldn’t be confused with the modern English word pan, which whilst used to bake bread is actually derived from the Latin word patina meaning dish.

Focacius is the Latin word for center or fireplace. Linguists theorize that since the fireplace was in the center of the house that the word could be used interchangeably. Focaccia in Roman times was cooked in the ashes of a fire rather than on a tray above the fire, so the translation seems correct.

http://www.historyofthings.com/history-of-focaccia-bread