Italian food is renowned worldwide and Liguria is no exception.
Many Ligurian products are indeed recognized and labeled by the European standards of products using the names DOP, IGP and STG…but what do they mean?
DOP stands for Protected Designation of Origin
The DOP label is assigned to agricultural products and foods whose quality characteristics depend essentially or exclusively on the territory in which they are produced.
The DOP products Liguria has to offer are:
The Riviera Ligure extra virgin olive oil (regionally called Green Gold) and the Genoese basil, used for the famous pesto sauce.
IGP stands for Protected Geographical Indication
The IGP label is attributed to those agricultural and food products for which a certain quality, reputation or another characteristic depends on the geographical origin, and at least one phase of the production process (production, processing, manufacturing) takes place in that particular area.
However, all the steps must follow the rules of the production disciplinary regulations standards set by the European Union.
Some of Liguria’s IGP products include:
The anchovies fished in the Ligurian Sea and the Focaccia di Recco (Recco town’s focaccia).
Today I wish to talk a bit more about this special – and delicious – focaccia for which tourists come from abroad.
The Focaccia di Recco is a type of focaccia which doesn’t need presentations here in Italy but abroad it may not be so popular also because it is linked to our territory and it can only be prepared with the fresh local cheese from our hills.
This focaccia does not need leavening or even yeast. It is easy and quick to prepare and can be filled with tomato sauce and mozzarella, spinach, prosciutto or ham, but the true original recipe has only fresh local cheese.
A simple and healthy product, made only using flour, salt, extra virgin olive oil and fresh local cheese, it can be difficult to make it only if the manual skill is missing which allows you to pull the very thin dough with your hands and if you do not have at home an oven that reaches at least 250° C.
The Focaccia di Recco with IGP cheese is a baked product obtained by processing a mixture of wheat flour (without the use of yeast), extra virgin olive oil, water and salt, then filled with fresh soft cheese. On the eye it is easily distinguished from the typical focaccias of the Italian tradition and from the other Ligurian ones since, besides being stuffed with cheese, it is extremely thin. The other peculiarity is represented by the cheese, creamy, sweet but with a light and pleasant acidulous aftertaste. Its production area includes the entire territory of the municipalities of Recco, Avegno, Sori and Camogli in the province of Genoa. What if it is made somewhere else? It is not the original Focaccia di Recco!
Every year in May the town of Recco celebrates the Festival of the Focaccia di Recco and this year this food fair reached its 64th edition.
An amazing party that starts in the morning and continues until sunset. A rich and tasty program with free tastings, from plain focaccia to the famous Recco focaccia with IGP cheese: simple, excellent and impossible to imitate.
In Liguria, having focaccia is not only a pleasure, but a ritual even for breakfast.
Resisting the goodness of the focaccia is impossible, its scent, its color and its taste satisfies every type of gastronomic fantasy.
The true Ligurian will eat focaccia for breakfast dipped in cappuccino even if it’s salty and greasy.
There are so many variants today but in Recco the absolute queen remains the famous Focaccia al Formaggio.
