Ask Fred Plotkin, the author of Italian cookbooks and restaurant guides, and he’ll say the most craveable food on the planet can be found in a seaside town on the sunny northwest coast of Italy.

ImageA fresh slice of focaccia col formaggio drips with the milky cheese baked inside of it.Credit...Emanuele Camerini for The New York TimesImageAt Manuelina, a restaurant in Recco, Italy, bakers twirl dough midair with balletic fluidity to ever thinner and impressively round sheets.Credit...Emanuele Camerini for The New York Times

Mr. Plotkin has eaten through all 20 regions of Italy to research restaurants, bakeries and gelato shops. (His book “Italy for the Gourmet Traveler” is a neo-classic.) But it’s a cheese-filled flatbread called focaccia col formaggio, the specialty of Recco, that receives his highest praise.

“If I knew I was eating my last meal, this focaccia would be on the menu,” Mr. Plotkin said.

Recipe: Focaccia col Formaggio (Ligurian Crisp Cheese Flatbread)ImageIt takes only five ingredients and a baking sheet to recreate this dish at home.Credit...Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

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