Bari, · Puglia Techniques

The masterwork of Pugliese cheesemaking: a thin Mozzarella shell filled with a mixture of fresh mozzarella shreds (stracciatella) and fresh cream, tied at the neck to form a small purse. Created in Andria (Bari province) in the 1950s by Lorenzo Bianchino as a way to use Mozzarella scraps. When cut or torn, the cream-and-stracciatella filling floods the plate in a cascade of pure milk fat and fresh-cheese shreds. Must be eaten within 24-48 hours of production — it is not a keeping cheese.

The simplest authentic Barese preparation for orecchiette: fresh handmade pasta with a sauce of just-cooked fresh cherry tomatoes, basil, and olive oil. No meat, no anchovy, no complexity — the entire point is to showcase the handmade pasta's texture and the quality of the Pugliese tomatoes and olive oil. The tomatoes are cooked for 8 minutes maximum — they should burst and release their juice but retain some shape and freshness. The orecchiette's cup shape captures a pool of the bright sauce in each ear.

Orecchiette (little ears) are the signature pasta of Puglia, made from semolina and water only — shaped by dragging a small piece of dough across a wooden board with a rounded knife to create the characteristic cup shape. The cupped shape is functional: it holds the rough, bitter sauce of blanched cime di rapa (turnip greens, technically rapini) sautéed with olive oil, garlic, and anchovies. The pasta's cup catches and holds the sauce; the anchovies dissolve into the oil and season the greens without announcing themselves.

Puglia's most iconic pasta: handmade orecchiette (little ears) cooked with broccoli rabe (cime di rapa) and anchovy. The technique is the 'risottatura' method — the pasta and blanched broccoli rabe are finished together in a pan with olive oil, garlic, anchovy, and chilli, adding pasta water to create a loose, emulsified sauce. The broccoli rabe should partially break down to coat the orecchiette. The dish is bitter, anchovy-rich, and deeply savoury — antithetical to sweetness of any kind.

The canonical pasta of Bari: orecchiette (hand-made semolina pasta pressed with the thumb into ear-shaped cups) cooked together with blanched cime di rapa (broccoli rabe) in the same pot, then ripassata (sautéed again) in olive oil with garlic, desalted anchovy dissolved into the oil, and fresh chilli. The anchovy provides a background umami that most diners cannot identify but would miss. The orecchiette must be made by hand — the cup shape only forms correctly with the thumb pressure technique.

Pane di Altamura DOP is the defining hard wheat bread of the Mediterranean: made exclusively from semolina rimacinata di grano duro (durum wheat fine-ground), water, sea salt, and natural sourdough starter, shaped into the traditional forms (cappiello di Puglia or skuanete), and baked in a wood-fired stone oven at 250°C. The crust achieves an extraordinary golden colour and shattering crunch; the interior crumb is dense, golden-yellow, and stays fresh for 5–7 days. The high protein content of Altamura durum wheat is the foundation.

A potato pizza unique to the Bari area: a thick, yielding dough enriched with mashed potato (replacing much of the wheat flour), pressed into a well-oiled round pan, dimpled with fingertips, dressed with fresh tomato, olive oil, dried oregano, and black olives, then baked in a hot oven until the surface blisters and the bottom is golden and crisp. Related to focaccia barese but distinct — the potato creates a much softer, almost cake-like interior.

Bari's emblematic layered baked dish: raw rice, sliced potatoes, fresh mussels, tomatoes, onion, parsley, Pecorino, and olive oil layered in a terracotta tray and baked uncovered. The raw rice absorbs the mussel liquor and vegetable water as it cooks; the top layer caramelises and crisps while the interior remains moist. No pre-cooking of any element — everything goes in raw and cooks together in 45 minutes. The tiella (from Latin tegella, terracotta dish) is the vessel and the technique simultaneously.

Bari's signature baked one-dish — alternating layers of raw rice, sliced potatoes, and raw mussels in their shells in a terra cotta teglia (hence 'tiella'), with sliced tomatoes, onion, garlic, Pecorino, olive oil, and white wine, baked covered then uncovered until the potato is tender, the rice is cooked through by the mussel and vegetable liquids, and the top is golden. Unlike risotto, no stirring occurs — the rice cooks by absorption of the combined mussel-tomato-olive oil liquid from below. Served directly from the tiella at the table.