Second Helpings #17 Schiacciata

A tuscan take on focaccia and a little giveaway

Hello Friends!

This week I have been in search of a sandwich. I kept seeing videos online of tuscan style sandwiches made with the local version of focaccia, schiacciata. Florence, in particular, is famous for these sandwiches and, at one very famous bakery named All'Antico Vinaio, people join huge queues for sandwiches as big as their faces, and yes I joined the queue too. Said famous bakery even opened a branch in New York recently. London, of course, joined in on the trend with Dal Fiorentino, who specialise in this type of sandwich, opening late last year.

What makes these sandwiches stand apart from others, to me at least, is the bread. Schiacciata is a type of focaccia but it’s a little different than what you might have in your mind. I’d imagine, if I asked you to picture some focaccia, you would conjure up an image of a thick slab of very bubbly and soft focaccia. Incredibly delicious and one of my favourite breads to make but not what I was aiming for. For this craving, I wanted to recreate that bread from Tuscany, I wanted to be back in Florence and not in a wet and windy London.