UAE food: Say it like you eat it at La Fabbrica: Focacceria Italiana

My favourite part of Elizabeth Gilbert’s book and later, of course, the movie starring Julia Roberts, Eat Pray Love, is the one that takes place in Italy, where the protagonist, Liz, discovers the true pleasure of nourishment by eating in Italy. I particularly enjoy the bits where she romances the food and the pronunciation of the Italian words. So, no wonder when a meal from La Fabbrica: Focacceria Italiana, reached home, I went all Liz about it.

I started by learning how to pronounce focaccia, stressing the middle syllable and the double c. What is focaccia? Well, it’s a flat oven-baked bread, essentially it is the pizza dough but fluffier and lighter. UAE’s first-ever Focacceri brings the history of authentic focaccia to you serving more than 15 variations of focaccia. Reading through their menu, which serves only three things, burrata, focaccia and tiramisu, was indeed a reminder of Liz calling Italian a fairyland kind of language, say it like you eat it.

Foremost, it was the Genovese, a beautiful serving of burrata, pickled heirloom tomato salad, with Genovese pesto. It was oh-so-creamy, and we scooped it with Focaccia Tradizionale, one topped with Za’atar and the other with olives and tomato. Burrata happens to be my favourite cheese for more reasons than one.

To start with, I can’t get over the round, beautiful shape and this one claims to be hand-moulded by Italian artists! This followed by how when we cut through the mild pillowy firm outer casing (made of mozzarella), the soft, and stringy curd-like and fresh cream appeared. It was rich, yet didn’t feel overindulgent, which is how this queen of Italian cheese is best described.

Order via lafabbricaitaliana.com, 045470719