16 Feb The Exceptional Versatility of Focaccia Bread
For operators looking to refresh and enliven their menu selection or LTO specials, creative bread use is an impactful place to start. A slow seller or new offering can perform better when you can grab customers’ attention with on-trend, appealing bread applications.
Tribeca Oven Focaccia is an ideal product to consider for this purpose. In our 2024 Bread Trend Forecast blog post, one of our top projected performers was focaccia: Datassential Menucast 2023 reveals that in 2022, focaccia appeared on 6.8% of restaurant menus, representing a +6% growth from 2022. The Covid-19 pandemic, when many home cooks picked up hobby baking, introduced focaccia to a wider mainstream audience, and now it’s here to stay.
Focaccia, with its crisp crust and airy crumb, makes a great sandwich carrier, but there’s so much more it can be used for on cafe and restaurant menus. We’re excited to share four recipes/applications developed by Thai Nguyen, Culinary Technologist at C.H. Guenther & Son, to help chefs and kitchen managers reimagine how versatile this Italian-style loaf can be.
Capitalize on focaccia’s hot-trend-status by pairing it with another darling of the culinary and social media worlds: whipped ricotta. Enter the phrase “whipped ricotta’ into TikTok’s search bar, and dozens upon dozens of viral videos, many with well over a million plays.
This shareable small plate captures the unstoppable momentum of this light, fluffy shareable cheese dip. Mild, creamy ricotta is blended with thyme, drizzled with honey, sprinkled with chili flakes and served on crunchy, toasted focaccia. It’s an elegant vegetarian app with a quick pick-up. Get the recipe Here.
Focaccia effortlessly steps in for garlic bread as a dipper with tender meatballs in umami-rich marinara sauce. Grilling the bread imparts a rustic char, for a perceived value-add with minimal effort. The meatballs, which are a cost-efficient blend of ground beef and pork, are baked instead of fried, which is also more appealing to health-conscious consumers. Ge the recipe Here.
This Italian-American classic combines Italian sausage, red pepper, kale, and potato for a creamy, hearty dish. A piece of toasted focaccia with gremolata-inspired olive oil on the side turns a bowl of soup into a meal, and can command a higher menu price.
Gremolata is an Italian condiment made from parsley, garlic and lemon zest. It helps to balance rich meat-based dishes with its clean herbaceousness and bright acidity. Here, it’s revamped as a beautiful green dipping sauce to be served with focaccia with the soup. Our version starts with the traditional three ingredients and adds fresh basil for extra depth of flavor, and salted olive oil for a looser texture. Get the recipe Here.
Tribeca Oven focaccia is a true workhorse in the kitchen, and we encourage you to think outside the box about how it can bring excitement to your menu!
Calling all operators! Join The Crumb Collective, our artisan community where we talk shop and share breaducation tips. To explore Tribeca Oven’s entire range of products, visit our website, and follow us on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
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