“U Rùcchelə” THE FOCACCIA FROM GRAVINA IN PUGLIA IN HONOR OF SAINT JOSEPH

Apulian wine pairing

catholic religious tradition leads us to the ritual of red wine on the altar during mass, just as St. Joseph‘s flatbread leads us to what has now become Father’s Day.
From the symbolism of faith to the actual pairing at the table, red wine remains and wins.
We can range from wine made from Aglianico and Nero di Troia grapes to international varieties such as Cabernet, which have the power of the sun in Puglia.

INGREDIENTS FOR 10 PEOPLE

  • 00 Italian flour gr 600
  • Remilled durum wheat semolina gr 400
  • Extra virgin olive oil (for the dough) gr 100
  • Sliced spring onions Kg 1,5
  • Extra virgin olive oil (for spring onions) gr 100
  • Pitted black olives gr 400
  • Fine salt to taste.
  • Pepper to taste.
  • Sultanas gr 600
  • Cleaned anchovies gr 200
  • Sweet white wine gr 300
  • Caster sugar gr 200
  • Extra virgin olive oil (for cooking) gr 200

METHOD

Put 100 gr of olive oil and the spring onions  in a saucepan and cook over low heat, adding the black olives, salt and pepper at the same time.

Separately, on a pastry board, form a circle with the flours and pour in the centre the fine salt, the hot oil (100 gr) with the medium sweet wine, mix everything and let it rest for 20 minutes.

Take half of the dough and roll it out with a rolling pin into a round shape 4 mm thick.

Prick the rolled out dough into a round shape with a fork and spread the spring onions  and olive mixture, add sultanas and anchovies and a drizzle of oil evenly.

Roll out the other half of the dough and form another round disk of the same thickness as the previous one.

Cover the filling evenly and form a cylinder, pressing it from top to bottom and rolling it up on itself.

Place it in a round baking tin, add oil (200 gr), prick with a fork and place in the oven and cook over a moderate heat.

HISTORICAL OUTLINES

In Gravina in Puglia for the celebration of the day of St. Joseph there is the custom of focaccia di San Giuseppe “U Rùcchelə”, a focaccia stuffed with spring onions, whose local name is sponsali, stewed in olive oil, to which are then added black olives, salted anchovies, raisins or sultanas.

A traditional  recipe that can be a meal and also a dessert, depending on how it is prepared and the ingredients that are combined.

It is possible that the “U Rùcchelə” of San Giuseppe di Gravina was influenced by the Arab culinary culture, if one takes into account the use of anchovies, sultanas and leeks.

In the past it was cooked between two fires of wood coals: fire-below in a brazier and fire-above, on a lid placed on the pan that contained the focaccia.

Author

Master chef and executive chef Michele ERRIQUEZ

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