Meyer lemon Foccaccia: Is it absolutley essential to let the dough sit overnight in the fridge

wow.. I had no idea, thanks susan g, No, I certainly didn't make a dent in the quantity of dough, but its just the 'irresistability' factor, or maybe it was because my mom always used to admonish me as a kid not to eat uncooked dough.. This thread has certainly been a great learning session!

Panfusine, you mention being tempted to nibble on the uncooked dough. I don't know if this has been disproven, but I used to read that uncooked yeast dough is 'antinutritional' -- that it can use some of the B vitamins (I think) in your gut. (Doubt that you could eat enough to cause a real problem, though.)

Suppose someone started the recipe without reading the 'rest overnight' part and planned to bring it to dinner this evening, would you rest the dough on the counter for a few hours as opposed to the fridge at this point?

The flavor will be better, and so will the texture. Overnighting a dough permits bacterial growth to continue, which deepens flavor, or "character." It also essentially puts the yeast to sleep gradually, not all at once. It's growth continues, albeit very slowly, then awakens the next day once the dough is returned to room temp. The result will be the much more open, irregular crumb which is characteristic of good focaccia.

The anticipation will only make it better!

The dough develops more flavor as it undergoes a long, slow rise, so no, it isn't absolutely essential, but you wont' have the depth of flavor in the end result.