An intriguing bread both sweet with honey and anise and savory with pepper and pancetta, versions of it have been baked for pagan and sacred and secular festivals since the epoch of the Greeks. Giuseppe Fazia sometimes bakes the gorgeous, fragrant bread at his forno in Via Tommasini in Reggio Calabria.
Recipe information
Yield
makes 1 large focaccia
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
In a small sauté pan over a lively flame, warm the olive oil and sauté the pancetta, permitting it to render its fat and to crisp. Remove the pancetta with a slotted spoon and reserve it. Add the aniseeds and 2 teaspoons of the cracked pepper, rolling the spices about in the fat for a few seconds to scent it. Set the mixture aside.
Step 2
In a large bowl, combine the water with the yeast, stirring it a bit before adding 1 cup of the flour, 1 tablespoon of the honey, beating the mixture with a wooden spoon and permitting the yeast to soften and activate for 15 minutes. Add 5 cups of flour, the salt, 1/3 cup of honey, the raisins, the egg, and the spice-infused oil, stirring with a wooden spoon to blend the components.
Step 3
Turn the mixture out onto a lightly floured work space, kneading it into a velvety, resilient dough—a task that takes at least 8 minutes. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover it tightly with plastic wrap, and permit the dough to double its mass, about 1 1/2 hours.
Step 4
Deflate the dough and, on a parchment-lined baking sheet, roll it or flatten it with your hands into a rather free-form rectangle, about 1/2 inch in thickness.
Step 5
In a small pan over a medium flame, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of honey and drop it in threads over the bread. Strew the top with the reserved, crisped pancetta and grind pepper generously over the bread. Cover the bread with a clean kitchen towel and permit it to rise for 1/2 hour.
Step 6
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Step 7
Bake the focaccia for 25 to 30 minutes, until it is deep gold. Cool the focaccia on a rack for a few minutes before carrying it to table in a flat basket, along with a plate of fresh ricotta or a piece of young, creamy pecorino or a bowlful of mascarpone to eat with the last drops in the bottle—the heel—of a fine red wine for a beautiful fine pasto—finish to the meal.
