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!