The famous focaccias of Liguria

Onion focaccia became popular among Liguria’s poorest inhabitants, largely because it was a cheap form of sustenance. Not only are onions cheap, they also suppress hunger – for that reason it became popular with longshoremen and fishermen, who took focaccia con le cipolle with them to sea. More importantly, onion is a delicious topping for focaccia, lending the bread a mellow sweetness after baking.

Every August, the small village of Santa Giulia di Centaura holds a festival to honour the humble sage plant, and celebrates by making tray after tray of focaccia con la salvia. You can easily make it at home by preparing focaccia in the normal way, but using oil infused with sage leaves. Lay fresh sage leaves generously over the top before baking and you'll understand why this is such a popular variety.

Focaccia di Recco differs from regular focaccia – it doesn’t have the light, bouncy crumb usually associated with the bread, resembling more of a traditional flatbread. The recipe harks back to the twelfth century, when the inhabitants of Recco first made a simple flatbread with a cheese filling. The bread has survived the test of time and remains an important part of Ligurian gastronomic tradition today, though it tends to be made with stracchino cheese rather than the yoghurt-like prescinsêua as it would have been originally. This variety of focaccia is now IGP-protected, which means you can only get the 'real thing' in the region.