Spongy or springy, focaccia gives a sandwich oomph
Focaccia means "hearth," which seems just right because it's made in the heart of an Italian oven. A round or oblong flat bread resembling a chubby pizza, focaccia is a rich base for summer-scented herbs, pungent sun-dried tomatoes, juicy olives, or sweet sliced onions. Originally an accompaniment to the meal, focaccia has taken on a new life as a base for sandwiches, some Italian-style, others using whatever strikes the cook's fancy. The feeling is that if it goes on bread, it tastes better on focaccia.
Made in a dense, chewy version, and a soft, spongy variety, focaccia is available in specialty markets and bakeries all over the area. We sampled more than half a dozen and found some surprises, then baked our own simplified version.
Clear Flour Bread offers different flavors on different days, including a "sunshine" focaccia with rays to pull off and dunk into olive oil. On a recent Saturday, we find a rosemary version, with a springy, resistant crust, a sharp taste of the herb, and the good quality olive oil so essential to decent focaccia much in evidence. Dense and substantial, this bread looks appetizing and smells heavenly. Also on offer is a slightly plumper onion-topped version, with the sweet scent of roasted onions, a sprinkle of oregano, and the contrast of black pepper ($2.75 each).
Artichoke focaccia is on the menu at Monica's Mercato in the North End. The very cheesy crust, redolent of Asiago and rich olive oil, holds a generous topping of thinly sliced grilled artichokes and a sprinkle of parsley. Its open, spongy crumb has a slightly salty aftertaste. A judicious sprinkle of sharp Parmesan shreds, partially melted under the grill, tops rosemary focaccia ($2.75 each).
Nearby, Salumeria Italiana offers slabs of focaccia from Iggy's Bread of the World ($1.99). The thick, slightly bland bread with a sprinkle of dried oregano and rosemary comes into its own in one of the spectacular sandwiches ($5). The split focaccia can be stuffed with prosciutto di Parma, soft fresh mozzarella, juicy tomatoes, large basil leaves, olive oil, and aged balsamic vinegar. Iggy's focaccia is also available at many area markets (and in Iggy's bakery in Cambridge).
Behind the cheese counter at the fruit and produce marketA. Russo & Sons in Watertown is a sandwich bar with offerings on a wide variety of breads. When we ask the obliging counterman for focaccia, he offers a freshly baked herb-crusted slab, still warm. In the bakery section, we spot olive and roasted-tomato focaccia coming out of the oven. The chopped tomatoes are crisp at the edges, sweet with tiny seeds amid liberally scattered pimento-stuffed green olives and diced onions. This bread is denser and thinner than the herb version; a crunchy sprinkle of Parmesan adds to its pungency (99 cents to $3.50 a slice).
At the Brookline location of the
The in-house bakery at Shaw's offers a fat, round, pillowy focaccia ($3.99) topped with sliced tomatoes and strewn with Parmesan shreds. Gummy dough under the sweet tomatoes suggests that the bread should finish baking at home. Points, though, for a delicate olive oil taste, a nicely golden under-crust, and plenty of basil and oregano.
Small rounds of soft focaccia at Trader Joe's ($2.79) are garnished with grilled leeks and onions and a generous scattering of sharp Asiago. Crisp pale-green leeks and sweet onions melt into a golden, quite flavorful crust. Ready-made focaccia sandwiches include tuna, chicken, or mozzarella. In the cheese version, chunks of soft mozzarella, loads of bright roasted red peppers, and a dash of walnut-cashew pesto are sandwiched inside pleasantly tangy sourdough focaccia (sandwiches $3.99).
Flour Bakery + Cafe in the South End has a more unusual take on the popular bread. Order a sandwich on focaccia ($7.25) from the cheery staff in this bustling eatery, and you'll receive your chosen filling between something that looks suspiciously like ordinary bread slices. It really is focaccia, though - the bakery produces enormous, high loaves of focaccia and slices them diagonally to form the backdrop for fillings such as smoked turkey with rich cranberry sauce. The pale yellow bread has a springy, pungent quality reminiscent of sourdough. The sandwich maker tells us, "We make focaccia a bit differently here. It's not traditional, but we like it a lot." We nod in agreement.
A. Russo & Sons, 560 Pleasant St., Watertown, 617-923-1500.
Clear Flour Bread, 178 Thorndike St., Brookline, 617-739-0060.
Flour Bakery + Cafe, 1595 Washington St., South End, Boston, 617-267-4300, and 12 Farnsworth St., Fort Point Channel, 617-338-4333.
Iggy's Bread of the World, 130 Fawcett St., Cambridge, 617-924-0949.
Monica's Mercato, 130 Salem St., North End, Boston, 617-742-4101.
Panera Bread, 299 Harvard St., Brookline, 617-738-1909.
Salumeria Italiana, 151 Richmond St., North End, Boston, 800-400-5916.
Shaw's, 53 Huntington Ave., Boston, 617-262-4688.
Trader Joe's, 899 Boylston St., Boston, 617-262-6505.
