HOW TO MAKE FOCACCIA BARESE (Also a great pizza dough)

[MadMonk]

My maternal Grandmother and Grandfather were both from Bari. She was a pretty amazing cook. I make her version of this type of dough, which uses boiled potatoes (1/3 to 2/3 of the flour, by weight) and the water, but this looks a lot simpler.

I may try it this weekend. You'll notice it expands quite a bit, and it is much lighter than a lot of folks may imagine. The "skin" on the bottom of my Grandmothers recipe is a wonderful thing. I'm hoping this one has that same quality. This is the ONLY time I have seen anybody even bring up this type of dough. It was the only dough she used for pizza.

 

[JHolmes763]

Oh, man, that looks good. Do you let it "sleep" for 8 hrs at room temp? I couldn't listen with sound.

 

[MadMonk]

Oh, man, that looks good. Do you let it "sleep" for 8 hrs at room temp? I couldn't listen with sound.

He didn't say. I proof at room temp like my Nonna.

 

[JHolmes763]

For that long, too? Seems like it'd blow up.

 

[MadMonk]

For that long, too? Seems like it'd blow up.

haha, never has with my recipe, but I did check with him, and he also said Room temp. I plan on doing this soon, so we'll see. I'm going to make a pizza and not a foccacia. What I am not real confident about is his 300* Celsius for an hour.

My understanding is that the fridge will slow it down, and develop a more mellow flavor. Bread folks debate "in or out of fridge" all the time. That said. Nonna is always right. haha.

 

[JHolmes763]

I'd go with Nonna, too!