Focaccia Sandwich Dubai: Olives, Oil and a Crumb That Holds Up

Most sandwiches put their flavour in the filling and ask the bread to stay out of the way. A focaccia sandwich gives the bread more of the work. Focaccia traditionally arrives with olive oil and toppings of its own, so the filling can stay simple.

That is how our Focaccia Smoked Turkey Sandwich is built. The herbed focaccia is topped with black olives, cherry tomatoes and rosemary, and filled with smoked turkey and crisp lettuce. We make it fresh every day in our kitchen in Dubai Silicon Oasis and deliver it across Dubai. At 17 AED it is the most expensive of our six sandwiches; the other five are 12 AED each.

Splitting and filling focaccia is an Italian habit

Focaccia is a flat, tray-baked Italian bread whose name goes back to the Latin focus, the hearth. In Liguria, home of focaccia genovese, it is often eaten plain, torn from the slab. Across Italy it is also split through the middle and filled, and bakeries and bars sell it as focaccia farcita, filled focaccia. In Tuscany its cousin, schiacciata, is sliced open the same way for sandwiches.

Many classic fillings are simple, such as a few slices of cured meat or a soft cheese, because a bread that already carries oil, salt and herbs needs little help. Ours follows that pattern: a plain filling of turkey and lettuce, with the seasoning left to the bread.

How oil and fillings decide how long it holds

Every sandwich softens from the inside as water moves from the filling into the bread, and fat slows that down. Focaccia is traditionally made with olive oil in the dough, under it in the tray and over the top, and our focaccia guide explains how a hot, oiled tray fries its base.

Splitting the slab changes things. In a traditional focaccia the oil is richest in the dimpled top and the fried base, and thinnest in the middle of the crumb, which is exactly the face a split exposes. So the fillings matter as much as the oil.

Smoked turkey and lettuce are kind to it. Sliced turkey carries little free liquid, and lettuce leaves shed water rather than soak it up.

Put together, that means our focaccia sandwich holds until lunch on the day it arrives, as long as it stays cold and uncut. It and our ciabatta turkey sandwich are the two to choose when lunch is hours away; brioche and white-bread sandwiches are for eating soon. By the next morning the cut faces will have taken on moisture from the filling and the rest of the crumb will have firmed in the cold. Our sandwich guide sets focaccia side by side with ciabatta, brioche and multigrain.

What the toppings bring

Smoked turkey brings salt and smoke of its own, and lettuce brings crunch. The toppings on the bread add the rest, and each does a different job.

Black olives bring salt and depth. Olives straight from the tree are too bitter to eat; curing takes most of that out and leaves a salty, savoury fruit that carries its own oil. On a baked focaccia they dry slightly and concentrate. A bite that lands on an olive is seasoned for you.

Cherry tomatoes bring acid and savouriness. Tomatoes are acidic, which brightens the salt and smoke around them, and naturally high in glutamates, the compounds behind umami flavour. Heat drives off water and concentrates both. Keeping a wet topping from waterlogging the crumb beneath it is a problem of its own, and our article on cherry tomato focaccia works through it.

Rosemary brings aroma. Rosemary with roast turkey or chicken is an old pairing, and here the needles sit on the top crust, so they are the first thing you smell. Cold dulls that aroma, which is why a short rest out of the fridge before eating matters. Why rosemary goes onto focaccia late, pressed into the oil, is covered in our piece on rosemary focaccia.

It eats very differently from the Ciabatta Turkey & Cheese Sandwich at 12 AED, which gets its character from cheese and beetroot slaw inside the bread.

Ordering focaccia sandwiches for a meeting

A meeting table suits this sandwich: with olives and tomatoes already on the bread it needs little alongside it, and kept cold it waits for lunch better than a soft sandwich loaf.

Order ahead. There is no same-day delivery, and the earliest window is the next morning, so place the order in advance and choose a delivery window at checkout; for a lunchtime meeting, pick a morning one. Orders are baked fresh for the day they are due. Our guide to fresh bread delivery in Dubai lists the four windows on offer, from tomorrow morning to the next Saturday.

Say it is for an office. Checkout has a "Delivering to a company / business?" option that adds a company name, and a notes field for the baker where you can mention a reception desk. Someone has to be there to take the delivery: we cannot replace fresh food that is left uncollected or out of the fridge. The rest is on our delivery page.

Know where free delivery starts. There is no minimum order. Delivery is free once your bag reaches 150 AED, and a 20 AED fee applies below that. At the 17 AED list price, nine sandwiches come to 153 AED in your bag, and that bag total is what free delivery is worked out on.

Mix the order if tastes differ. Not everyone wants olives. Our piece on the ciabatta turkey sandwich covers the closest swap, and the brioche smoked chicken sandwich suits a room that eats as soon as the food arrives. If someone would rather have focaccia without a filling, Focaccia · Rosemary & Olive Oil, Focaccia · Cherry Tomato and Focaccia · Mushroom are each 12 AED and made with extra virgin olive oil.

Keep them in the fridge until just before serving. Smoked turkey needs the fridge, so put the sandwiches in one on arrival unless they are being eaten straight away, and take them out ten to fifteen minutes before people sit down. Standard food-safety guidance is no more than two hours out of the fridge in total, or one hour above 32°C. Leave each sandwich whole until it is served, because cutting early only exposes more crumb. Then cut with a serrated knife, sawing rather than pressing down, so the toppings stay on and the crumb is not squashed.

For something bigger, such as a client breakfast or an offsite, use the "Bring Farah to your event" form; we reply within one working day. Our guide to office breakfast catering covers the planning.

How to warm a focaccia sandwich without wilting the lettuce

Straight from the fridge, a focaccia sandwich is at its least interesting. Bread stales fastest at fridge temperatures, as our guide to how to store bread in Dubai explains, and the cold keeps the rosemary quiet. Ten to fifteen minutes out of the fridge before eating takes the edge off the chill and brings some aroma back, but only warming reverses the firming.

If you want it warm, do it in parts:

1. Lift out the lettuce and the turkey. Heat wilts leaves almost at once, so keep the lettuce somewhere cool and the turkey in the fridge.
2. Warm the bread, not the whole sandwich. Lay the top half toppings-up and the base cut-side-up on a tray, and give them three to four minutes in an oven at about 180°C. Or toast the two cut faces in a dry frying pan over a medium heat for a minute or two, just until they are warm and lightly crisp.
3. Decide about the turkey. It can go straight back in cold. If you want it warm, heat it separately until steaming hot, not just lukewarm.
4. Reassemble and eat straight away.

Skip the microwave, which turns the crumb steamy and then tough as it cools, and the sandwich press, which flattens the toppings. Warm only a sandwich that has been kept in the fridge.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where can I get a focaccia sandwich in Dubai?

Farah Bakery makes a Focaccia Smoked Turkey Sandwich at 17 AED: smoked turkey and crisp lettuce inside herbed focaccia topped with black olives, cherry tomatoes and rosemary. We make it in our kitchen in Dubai Silicon Oasis and deliver across Dubai in the window you choose at checkout, and delivery is free on orders of 150 AED or more.

Is a focaccia sandwich the same as a panini?

Not quite. Panino is simply Italian for a sandwich or filled roll, while outside Italy "panini" usually means a pressed, grilled sandwich. A focaccia sandwich, called focaccia farcita in Italy, is a slab of focaccia split and filled. We would not put ours in a sandwich press, which flattens the olives and tomatoes on top; warm the halves in the oven instead.

How do I warm a focaccia sandwich?

Take out the lettuce and the turkey first. Warm the top half toppings-up and the base cut-side-up in an oven at about 180°C for three to four minutes, or toast the cut faces in a dry pan, then put the turkey and lettuce back and eat straight away. Avoid the microwave, which leaves the bread tough.

Can I make my own focaccia sandwich with your focaccia?

Yes. Our Focaccia · Rosemary & Olive Oil, Focaccia · Cherry Tomato and Focaccia · Mushroom are each 12 AED. Split one through the middle with a serrated knife and keep the filling simple and fairly dry, such as a few slices of cured meat or a soft cheese with some leaves, because the bread already brings oil, salt and herbs. Fill it shortly before eating.

Does the focaccia sandwich contain allergens?

It contains wheat, and therefore gluten, in the focaccia, and the product description does not list every ingredient, including what goes into the smoked turkey. Our kitchen handles wheat, gluten, eggs, dairy, nuts, peanuts, soy, sesame and seeds, and we cannot guarantee that any item is free from traces of these. If you or a guest has a food allergy or intolerance, tell us before you order (WhatsApp is fastest, or use our contact page), and do not rely on the website description alone.

Order focaccia sandwiches for your next meeting

Nine Focaccia Smoked Turkey Sandwiches at 17 AED clear free delivery. Order ahead for a morning window, keep them cold until just before people sit down, and the rosemary has a chance to come through. For anyone who would rather skip the olives, add a Ciabatta Turkey & Cheese Sandwich or browse the shop. For an event rather than a meeting, use the "Bring Farah to your event" form, and for allergy questions, get in touch before you order.