This recipe makes a fluffy schiacciata (a Tuscan focaccia) with a crunchy, golden, oiled top. One of its best features is the dimples created by the baker’s fingers as the dough is flattened before baking. They become wonderful pockets for the olive oil and salt, sploshed and scattered liberally over the top of the bread as it goes into the oven. Appropriately, schiacciata means ‘squashed’ or ‘flattened’.
A slice of schiacciata is a favourite after-school snack, often eaten straight out of the white, waxy paper bag, perhaps after a fight over who gets the cantuccino (crust). It is also a popular bread for making panini, which are made on the spot and filled with freshly sliced salumi in good bakeries around Florence.