Pugliese Food Guide: Orecchiette, Burrata & the Cooking of the Heel

Puglia (Apulia) is Italy’s heel — a long, flat peninsula in the southeast with two coastlines, abundant wheat, and an olive oil tradition that produces a third of Italy’s entire output. The cooking is rooted in vegetables, pulses, and bread, with seafood on both coasts. It is one of the most distinctive regional cuisines in Italy, and one of the least known internationally.

Orecchiette

‘Little ears’ pasta — small, concave discs of durum wheat semolina dough. The traditional shape of Puglia and made by hand throughout the region. The classic sauce is cime di rapa (turnip tops, blanched and sautéed with garlic, olive oil, and anchovy); the pasta absorbs the sauce into its curved surface. You can watch women making orecchiette by hand in Bari Vecchia (the old town streets near the Basilica di San Nicola).

Where to eat it: Il Frantoio (SS 16, km 874, Fasano, Ostuni area) — an agriturismo in a masseria with its own olive oil production; outstanding orecchiette with cime di rapa and fava e cicoria as part of a full Puglian home-cooking spread. €45–70/person. Book well ahead. Baccofino (Piazzetta Putignano 4, Alberobello) — in the trulli town, reliable local cucina with orecchiette and slow-cooked vegetables. €30–50/person.

Burrata

Burrata was invented in the 1950s in Andria (near Bari) — a mozzarella shell filled with stracciatella (shredded mozzarella) and cream. Fresh burrata has a shelf life of two to three days; what is sold elsewhere in Italy or internationally is a compromised product. The difference between fresh Puglian burrata and the packaged versions is significant. Buy it at the farm gate outside Andria or at any market in Bari.

Where to eat it: Trattoria Casa Nova (Bari) — a Bari table where burrata arrives as a matter of course alongside raw seafood. The Bari Vecchia market area also has stalls selling it fresh from Andria. €25–45/person.

Fave e Cicorie

Mashed fava beans with sautéed wild chicory — one of Italy’s oldest dishes, Roman in origin, still made throughout Puglia. The fava bean purée is nutty and dense; the bitter wild greens cut through it. Found in home cooking and traditional restaurants; increasingly hard to find in tourist areas.

Where to eat it: Il Frantoio (SS 16, km 874, Fasano, Ostuni area) — fava e cicoria is a staple of the masseria table here, made from the estate’s own produce. €45–70/person.

Focaccia Barese

Bari’s focaccia is different from the Ligurian version — thick, soft, soaked in olive oil, topped with halved cherry tomatoes and olives, and often scattered with fresh oregano. The dough traditionally includes boiled potato, which gives it a particular texture. Available from bakeries (fornai) throughout Bari from early morning.

Where to eat it: Forno Santa Rita (Altamura) — a longstanding local reference for Pane di Altamura DOP, the benchmark Puglian bread from the same baking tradition as focaccia barese. Bread from €3. Sgagliozze (fried polenta squares) are sold by street vendors around Bari Vecchia — a few euros.

Raw Seafood

Puglia’s two coastlines — the Adriatic and the Ionian — produce excellent raw seafood. Raw sea urchin (ricci di mare), raw clams (tartufi di mare), and raw mussels are served as antipasti throughout the region. The seafood markets in Gallipoli (Ionian coast) and Bari operate early morning. Raw bivalves carry obvious hygiene considerations; choose restaurants with visible quality turnover.

Where to eat it: Trattoria Casa Nova (Bari) — raw sea urchin served with bread is the most Barese of experiences; this is the category of restaurant to look for in Bari Vecchia. €25–45/person.

Taralli

Small ring-shaped crackers made from flour, olive oil, white wine, and fennel seeds — baked hard and eaten as a snack. Found everywhere in Puglia, packaged and fresh. The Bari version differs from variations elsewhere; the sweet taralli di Puglia (with sugar and almonds) are a distinct product.

Pasticciotto

A short-crust pastry case filled with custard cream — the typical pastry of the Salento area (Lecce and surroundings). Also made with ricotta and sour cherries or almond cream. A morning pasticciotto from a Lecce bar is worth planning around.

Where to eat it: Osteria del Poeta (Via Santa Teresa 9, Lecce) — pasticciotto and good Salento wines (Primitivo, Negroamaro) alongside pisci e patate and frise with tomato. €35–60/person.

Wine and Olive Oil

Primitivo di Manduria (a rich, full-bodied red from the Salento) and Negroamaro are the region’s principal reds. Locorotondo and Verdeca are the whites from the Valle d’Itria. Pugliese olive oil — particularly DOP Terra di Bari and Dauno — is produced in enormous quantity but the best small producers’ oil rivals anything in Italy.