Rosemary Sea Salt Focaccia

Start with the flour. Stone-ground from a mill you trust changes everything here. Industrial flour, stripped of its germ and bran, produces bread that tastes like nothing. Find flour that smells like wheat, that feels alive in your hands, and you are already halfway to something worth making.

Focaccia is forgiving bread. It asks only for time, warmth, and good olive oil. The technique is simple: mix, wait, stretch, wait again, then bake. No kneading. No fussing. The long rise develops flavor and structure while you do other things. The dimpling is the only real work, and even that is satisfying rather than difficult.

This is bread meant for sharing. Tear it at the table while the oil still glistens on the surface. Dip it into soup, drag it through sauce, or eat it plain with nothing but the rosemary and salt. Your choices shape the food system. Buy flour from someone who cares about grain. Find rosemary at the farmers market or grow it on your windowsill. Let things taste of what they are.