In the kitchen with chef Nancy Silverton
The La Brea Bakery founder and Mozza chef traveled to southern Italy to figure out how to make a better focaccia. Here’s a photo gallery look at Silverton sharing what she learned.
RELATED: Master Class: Making focaccia with chef Nancy Silverton, recipes included. (Tim French / For The TImes)
“First, I saw that the focaccia was baked in a round cake pan. Until then, I had always baked focaccia in large rectangular sheet pans. But after seeing it baked in cake pans, I realized that by working with such an unwieldy lump of dough, I had been mishandling it and thereby taking the air out of it, which makes for a dense bread.” (Tim French / For The Times)
“Instead, the toppings are pushed deep into the dough, so the bread bakes up around them. Not only does this make the focaccia really interesting to look at, it also results in a bread that is light-textured.” (Tim French / For The Times)
“At Mozza, when we press the toppings into the dough, we push ever so slightly outward, toward the edge of the pan. In so doing, we are killing three birds with one stone: embedding the topping into the dough, dimpling the dough and encouraging the dough toward the edges of the pan.” (Tim French / For The Times)
We know it’s hard. But the focaccia needs to rest for a few minutes before you start digging in. (Tim French / For The Times)
The best part of making focaccia? Sharing the delicious creation with friends and family. (Tim French / For The Times)