Panzerotto, the fried half-moon

To understand Bari, start here. The panzerotto is a crescent of leavened dough, sealed around tomato and mozzarella, then lowered into hot oil. It is the city’s most instinctive pleasure. It should be eaten immediately, the crust still blistered, the inside molten enough to demand patience you will not quite manage.

The classic filling is all you need, though bakeries throughout the old town offer variations with cime di rapa and sausage, scamorza and speck, and occasionally sweet versions filled with chocolate.

Focaccia Barese, Bari’s everyday bread

In Bari, focaccia is not a side dish or a starter. It is a complete argument for staying another day. Made with dough enriched by mashed potato, which gives it a density and chew unlike other focaccia in Italy, it emerges from the oven topped with ripe cherry tomatoes, black olives, oregano, and generous amounts of local olive oil.

The tomatoes are pressed gently into the dough before baking, caramelising at their edges and flavouring the crumb beneath. The result is crisp underneath, soft in the middle, and impossible to stop eating.

Sgagliozze, fried polenta squares

This is one of the quieter marvels of southern Italian cooking. Thick squares of yellow polenta, fried in abundant oil and served on paper with nothing more than a pinch of salt.

The tradition survives in the alleyways of Bari’s historic centre, where elderly women still fry sgagliozze from small street-side kitchens and windows overlooking the lanes of Bari Vecchia. Crisp on the outside and soft within, they are simple, inexpensive, and deeply comforting.

Bombette, pork rolls from the butcher’s grill

In the towns of the Valle d’Itria, especially Martina Franca and Cisternino, the butcher is also the cook. Bombette began as a practical recipe: thin slices of pork capocollo rolled around local cheese, secured and grilled over wood fire until charred outside and melting within.

They arrive on skewers or folded into bread, eaten standing at a counter with a glass of local Primitivo if the afternoon allows. Smoky, rich, and deeply savoury, they are among Puglia’s most satisfying street foods.

Rustico Leccese, Lecce’s essential snack

The rustico is Lecce’s contribution to the art of eating on the move: two rounds of puff pastry, crimped together and filled with mozzarella, tomato, and béchamel, then baked until deeply golden.

It is eaten at all hours: with morning coffee, as an afternoon pause, or while wandering through the baroque streets of the old town. The combination of creamy filling and shattering pastry is difficult to argue with.

Puccia, the sandwich that earns its reputation

Puccia is a round bread made from pizza dough, baked until it forms a natural pocket before being sliced open and filled according to the season and the region.

In Salento, fillings lean towards grilled aubergines, roasted peppers, wild chicory, fresh tomatoes, and local olive oil. Further north, in Taranto and Foggia, you will find richer combinations with scamorza, cured meats, and friggitelli peppers.

It is the kind of lunch that quietly reorganises your day around it.

Pasticciotto, the sweet that deserves the last word

Born in Lecce, the pasticciotto is less a pastry than an institution. Shortcrust pastry is pressed into an oval mould, filled with thick custard cream, sealed, and baked until the surface turns glossy and golden.

It is best eaten warm at breakfast alongside an espresso or caffè leccese: cold coffee poured over ice with sweet almond milk, another local speciality from Salento.

Together, they make a morning that requires very little improvement.