If you thought that sourdough was the Official Baked Good of the Great Lockdown, think again. We just learned of a stunning new loaf of bread that puts sourdough to shame. Have you heard about the focaccia garden – or gardenscape? We just read about this new comfort baking trend, and we are totally enchanted. Here’s what you need to know if you’re wondering how to bake stunning focaccia gardens while you’re staying safe at home.
let the focaccia garden bloom
A couple of days ago, the New York Times introduced us to something we feel that we’ve been waiting for all our lives: the focaccia garden. Food and flowers? You just can’t go wrong with that combination.
Take focaccia – the fragrant flatbread that’s one of our all-time favorite treats – and add floral designs made of vegetables to the top. The flat, white dough is the perfect blank canvas to literally let a thousand flowers bloom; the colorful produce represents the “garden” from which it came.
A gardenscape focaccia from Tasty.
The Times reports that home bakers decorate their focaccia with bouquets and swirls: “cherry tomatoes that open like petals, with long scallion stalks for stems. Yellow-pepper sunflowers with Kalamata olives at their center. Red onions in bushes made from fresh herbs.”
O.M.G. So pretty!!!
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Teri Culletto, a home baker in Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts on our beloved Martha’s Vineyard, is credited with inventing the gorgeous loaves. She posted her first focaccia garden on Instagram in February 2019.
Focaccia garden baked by Teri Culletto, courtesy of the New York Times.
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Hannah Page, a high school teacher in Raleigh, N.C., posts under @blondieandrye. She’s a self-taught baker who believes that now is the perfect time to learn a new skill. Like this one.
Focaccia gardenscapes baked by Hannah Page, courtesy of the New York Times.
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Happily, home bakers report that focaccia is one of the easiest breads to bake. Unlike sourdough, which requires lots of care and attention, you can whip up focaccia dough with just a spoon in a matter of minutes. So even novices (like us) can get in on the fun and creativity.
Wondering how to bake a focaccia garden?
The community of bakers who are creating these lovely loaves is supportive and accessible. For example, Redditor WarMaiden666 has been posting her work on Reddit’s “BreadIt” forum, along with helpful tips for those of us who find this whole idea a wee bit intimidating.
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You’ll find simple recipes for homemade focaccia all over the internet. The version from the New York Times is here.
How to Bake a Focaccia Garden
There are a few silver linings in this terrible moment, and the flowering of creativity in every possible discipline is one of them. The ability of people all over the world to craft beautiful and nourishing works that feed us body and spirit is truly inspiring.
“We are looking for beauty,” one of the many home bakers who regularly make focaccia gardens told the New York Times. “We don’t want to just survive, we want to live.” What do you say, dear reader? Are you in on this?
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For access to insider ideas and information on the world of luxury, sign up for our Dandelion Chandelier newsletter here. And see luxury in a new light.
