Focaccia Genovese

Name: Focaccia Genovese
Yield: 8
Cuisine: Ligurian
Ingredients: 4 cups bread flour; 2 teaspoons instant yeast; 2 teaspoons salt; 1 teaspoon sugar; 1 3/4 cups warm water; 1/3 cup olive oil, plus more for the pan and top; 2 tablespoons warm water; 1 tablespoon olive oil; flaky salt

Serve when

Serve it warm and dimpled, glossy with oil and flaky with salt — the everyday bread of the Riviera town the film is soaked in.

In the movie

Theatrical

Focaccia is part of the edible fabric of Portorosso, the fictional Ligurian fishing town — the region's signature bread turning up as the ordinary, delicious backdrop to a summer of pasta, gelato, and Vespa rides.

Portorosso is Pixar's postcard from the Ligurian coast, and focaccia is that coast's bread — oily, salty, and everywhere. The film doesn't make a set piece of it; it just lets it be part of the air, the way real regional food is. Bake a good one and your kitchen will smell like the movie looks.

Ingredients

4 cups bread flour
2 teaspoons instant yeast
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 3/4 cups warm water
1/3 cup olive oil, plus more for the pan and top
For the brine:
2 tablespoons warm water
1 tablespoon olive oil
flaky salt

Method

Mix the flour, yeast, salt, sugar, water, and oil into a wet, shaggy dough. Cover and let it rise until doubled and bubbly, about an hour.
Pour into a well-oiled sheet pan and stretch to fill. Let it rise again, 40 minutes. If the dough springs back and won't reach the corners, let it rest 10 minutes and stretch again — the gluten relaxes on its own.
Oil your fingertips and dimple the dough all over, right to the bottom.
Whisk the brine and pour it into the dimples, then scatter with flaky salt.
Bake at 450°F until deep golden and crisp-edged, 20–25 minutes. Eat warm — Genovese focaccia is at its best within the hour.