Fantastic focaccia - Rhyming recipe

This week a PhD student at the department brought a very tasty focaccia to the weekly "fika", to celebrate that she'd got a travel grant for going on field studies to Botswana. We asked for the recipe, and it turns out that she is also talented at writing rhyming recipes! We just had to try out the recipe and I got her permission to reprint it here on the blogg - thank you Andrea Petitt, and good luck researching gender dimensions of cattle farming in Botwana!

We had the neighbours over for this fika, and all children loved the bread! We did too, it's hard to stop eating it! The recipe should be great in summer, when we'll have lots of fresh herbs to use...

Fantastic Focaccia

Are you in need of a heavenly snack,

To bring your inspiration back?

If you've forgotten all that you’ve read,

The solution is Italian bread!

Crumble yeast and add the salt,

(it should be a lot – it’s not a fault)

Add the honey and water and stir,

Until dissolved in a misty blur.

Pour in olive oil, herbs and flour,

(It’s not yet ready to devour!)

Mix into a quite loose dough,

Then leave it under a towel to grow.

Let it rise for an hour or less,

In the meantime you can clean up the mess,

Knead the dough – this can be tricky,

It should be loose but not too sticky.

Oil your hands and wish for luck,

Add some flour if you get stuck,

Shape into an oval or square,

Then smile ‘cause you're almost there!

Brush the dough with olive oil,

Then let your imagination boil,

 - For decoration it is time!

Use olives, rosemary and thyme.

But make sure to come to a halt,

While there is room for flaky salt,

For half an hour leave to rest,

Now call the friends that you like best.

Bake in two hundred and twenty degrees,

Or slightly less if you so please,

In twenty five minutes is should smell fantastic,

And it is time to get enthusiastic!

Take the bread out and cover with care,

Then put your feet up on a chair,

The hard work is done and it was no waste,

If your friends have arrived it’s time for a taste!

Ingredients:

25g yeast

½ tbls (msk) salt

1 tbls honey

6 dl luke warm water

2 tbls tasty olive oil*

12 dl flour

1-2 dl freshly chopped or dried herbs*

(e.g. rosemary, thyme, oregano,  - you could also

add sundried tomato or feta cheese to the mix)

3 pinches flake salt for decoration

*more olive oil for brushing, kneading and on

the cookie sheet if you don’t use baking paper

** and more rosemary (and rosé pepper) for 

decoration

Serve with bowls of olive oil and herbs or dukkah for dipping!