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Focaccia barese

PAT · Fresh pasta, bread and pastry · Puglia

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In brief

History and origin

Focaccia barese is listed among Puglia's traditional products, with an area of origin covering the provinces of Bari, Barletta-Andria-Trani and Taranto. According to the regional record it was born in Altamura or Laterza, as a variant of durum wheat bread.

Its origin is practical. A wood-fired oven, freshly lit, has an initial heat too strong for baking bread; so before loading the loaves, a piece of raw dough was spread in a tin, left to rest, topped and baked, making use of that first heat.

The history of focacce is much older, though: the name comes from the Latin focus, the fire on which it was cooked, and the Romans already offered them to the gods. Since 2010 a dedicated consortium has promoted focaccia barese made according to tradition.

Sources: Atlante dei PAT di Puglia — Focaccia barese · Masaf — Elenco nazionale dei prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali, XXVI revisione (2026)

Area and method of production

The dough combines water, extra virgin olive oil and yeast with the flours, salt, a pinch of sugar and boiled potato, which makes it soft. The dough is very soft but not runny, and rises for about an hour.

It is then gently turned into an oiled tin dusted with salt and spread with oiled hands without pressing it down, so as not to lose the gas from rising. Cherry tomatoes cut in half are placed on top, skin side up and juicy side against the dough, and it is left to rise for another hour.

Before baking it is sprinkled with salt and oregano. Baking starts at a high temperature at the bottom of the oven and continues higher up at a gentler heat, until the focaccia turns a fine brown.

Sources: Atlante dei PAT di Puglia — Focaccia barese

How to recognise it

Focaccia barese is round, about thirty centimetres across, and is recognised by the fresh tomatoes covering its surface. It is crisp outside and soft inside, made juicy by the abundance of tomatoes that release their juices into the dough as it bakes.

Two details of the recipe explain its texture: the boiled potato in the dough, which makes it soft, and the double rise, first in the bowl and then in the tin under the tomatoes. On top, after baking, the colour is brown. Salt and oregano complete a simple topping of tomato and extra virgin olive oil.

Sources: Atlante dei PAT di Puglia — Focaccia barese

In the kitchen

According to the regional record, focaccia barese is the snack par excellence of the people of Bari. It can replace lunch or dinner, but it is eaten at any time of day, even just as a treat, and it is common to see people enjoying it on the street.

Eating it this way takes some care: with every bite a tomato threatens to fall. It is precisely this abundance of juicy tomatoes that defines it, together with the extra virgin olive oil that goes into the dough and greases the tin.

It needs no accompaniment: it is a complete meal in its simplicity, born as a home dish and now Bari's most representative street food.

Sources: Atlante dei PAT di Puglia — Focaccia barese

Where to taste it

Bari is the city of focaccia: the regional record mentions sales through traditional retailers and specialist shops, and here it is eaten at every hour of the day. A visit to the city is a chance to taste it the way locals do, on the street.

The area of origin extends to the provinces of Barletta-Andria-Trani and Taranto. Altamura and Laterza, the towns where tradition says it was born alongside durum wheat bread, are a natural stop for anyone wanting to discover the bond between focaccia and bread baked in wood-fired ovens.

Sources: Atlante dei PAT di Puglia — Focaccia barese

Protection

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Where

Puglia

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