APULICA / FRESH PASTA, BREAD AND PASTRY
Focaccia a libro of Sammichele di Bari
PAT · Slow Food Presidium · Fresh pasta, bread and pastry · Puglia
In brief
- A round focaccia 30-35 cm across and 3-4 cm thick, crisp and browned outside, white and soft inside. (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Focaccia a libro di Sammichele di Bari)
- Its name comes from the sheet of dough dressed with oil, salt and oregano, folded over like a book and then coiled into a spiral. (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Focaccia a libro di Sammichele di Bari · Atlante dei PAT di Puglia (Regione Puglia, Università di Bari) — Focaccia a libro di Sammichele di Bari)
- The Presidium bakeries use only local ingredients: old soft-wheat varieties such as maiorca and risciola, salt from Margherita di Savoia, local olive oil and sourdough. (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Focaccia a libro di Sammichele di Bari)
- It is available all year round. (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Focaccia a libro di Sammichele di Bari)
History and origin
Focaccia a libro, fecazze a livre in dialect, is the speciality of Sammichele di Bari. Its most distant roots are traced to ancient Rome, where in the wedding rite of confarreatio the couple broke a spelt focaccia to mark the start of their life together.
On how it reached Sammichele the sources are few and weave together documents and oral memory. Some credit the recipe to Miguel Vaaz, Count of Mola, of Portuguese origin, who in 1609 bought the fief of Casamassima, which then included the territory of the Quattro Miglia, today's Sammichele. Others have it appearing at the end of the eighteenth century.
Tradition also gives it a religious meaning: the open sheet of dough would be a book containing the faith, the short rising time the time needed to say ten prayers, and the oil spread on top a kind of blessing. It is listed among Puglia's traditional products and is a Slow Food Presidium.
Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Focaccia a libro di Sammichele di Bari · Atlante dei PAT di Puglia (Regione Puglia, Università di Bari) — Focaccia a libro di Sammichele di Bari · Masaf — Elenco nazionale dei prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali, XXVI revisione (2026)
Area and method of production
The dough is made from flour, water, natural yeast, salt and extra virgin olive oil; a boiled potato may be added to make it softer. After a short rise of about half an hour, the dough is divided and rolled into very thin sheets, which are brushed with oil and seasoned with salt and oregano.
Each sheet is folded over like a book and rolled into a thick cylinder, which is coiled into a spiral in a round tin starting from the centre. After another drizzle of oil the focaccia bakes until golden, traditionally in a wood-fired oven.
The Presidium's bakeries use only local ingredients: flours from traditional soft wheats such as maiorca, risciola and bianchetta, salt from the Margherita di Savoia salt pans, oil from local mills made from Ogliarola barese, Cima di Mola, Racioppa and Cazzinicchio, wild oregano and sourdough.
Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Focaccia a libro di Sammichele di Bari · Atlante dei PAT di Puglia (Regione Puglia, Università di Bari) — Focaccia a libro di Sammichele di Bari
How to recognise it
Focaccia a libro is a large spiral disc 30-35 centimetres across and 3-4 thick. Outside it is crisp, tending towards brown; inside it is white and soft. The spiral visible on top tells the story of how it is made: a sheet folded like a book and then rolled.
It is sold by the piece or whole, in sizes ranging from the smallest, just over a hundred grams, to the largest, at 600-700 grams. Its aroma is the simple one of extra virgin olive oil and oregano, the only seasonings of the dough.
Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Focaccia a libro di Sammichele di Bari · Atlante dei PAT di Puglia (Regione Puglia, Università di Bari) — Focaccia a libro di Sammichele di Bari
In the kitchen
It is a focaccia of frugal cooking, made with a few simple ingredients, and the regional record notes that it is good both hot and cold. It is bought by the piece or whole and needs no seasoning beyond the oil, salt and oregano spread on the dough.
The value of this focaccia lies precisely in its bond with local produce: flour from the old wheats grown around Sammichele, oil from local mills, salt from Margherita di Savoia and oregano gathered on sunny, uncultivated land.
Sources: Atlante dei PAT di Puglia (Regione Puglia, Università di Bari) — Focaccia a libro di Sammichele di Bari · Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Focaccia a libro di Sammichele di Bari
Where to taste it
The production area is the municipality of Sammichele di Bari, in the metropolitan city of Bari, where the Presidium's bakeries make focaccia a libro all year round following the traditional recipe. The regional record mentions sales through traditional retailers and specialist shops.
The most awaited event is the Sagra della focaccia a libro, which the regional record places in Sammichele di Bari on 25 and 26 September. Visitors to Bari and its hinterland can stop in Sammichele to taste it in the town where it was born.
Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Focaccia a libro di Sammichele di Bari · Atlante dei PAT di Puglia (Regione Puglia, Università di Bari) — Focaccia a libro di Sammichele di Bari
Protection
- Traditional agri-food product (PAT) — Puglia, n. 225, 26th revision (Masaf — Elenco nazionale dei prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali, XXVI revisione (2026))
- Slow Food Presidium — focaccia-a-libro-di-sammichele-di-bari (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Focaccia a libro di Sammichele di Bari)
When
- Traditionally eaten: all year round (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Focaccia a libro di Sammichele di Bari)