Flavors · Bari

Focaccia barese

Tall, soft focaccia made with cooked potato in the dough, topped with crushed cherry tomatoes, olives, oregano and plenty of olive oil, with a crispy edge. It’s named after Bari and is the city’s most common snack.

Traditional dish from Bari, Apúlia

Also known as: focaccia pugliese, focaccia di Bari

Updated November 2026

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Focaccia barese — Bari, Italy — Focaccia barese

Focaccia barese — Bari, Italy

The dough for focaccia barese includes wheat flour, finely ground durum wheat semolina, water, yeast, salt and, as its trademark, cooked and mashed potato, which keeps the crumb moist and tender. Shaped in round oiled baking pans and generously brushed with olive oil, it’s topped with cherry tomatoes cut and crushed by hand, olives—usually whole with pit—oregano and coarse salt. In the oven, the oil that pools on the bottom fries the base and the edge, which turn golden and crispy.

In Bari, focaccia is sold in pieces at bakeries in the old town and neighborhoods, hot and wrapped in paper. It’s eaten at breakfast and in the afternoon as a snack, and less often for dinner. Besides the classic tomato-topped version, there is the white one, with only olive oil and oregano, and one topped with thin potato slices that toast in the oven. The typical shape is round, like a wheel.

Focaccia barese is part of the city’s street food scene, alongside fried panzerotto and sgagliozze, squares of fried polenta. It’s food to eat on the way to the old town or by the seafront.

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Where it comes from

Bari , Apúlia
Focaccia named after Bari and sold in bakeries of the old town and throughout the city.

Ingredients

Wheat flour, finely ground durum wheat semolina, cooked potato, water, yeast, salt and olive oil in the dough; cherry tomatoes, olives, oregano and coarse salt on top.

How it is eaten

In pieces, eaten by hand, hot or warm, as a snack; it also accompanies meals.

When it is eaten

All year round, especially in the morning and afternoon.

Your questions

Questions about Focaccia barese

What sets focaccia barese apart?

The cooked potato in the dough, which makes the crumb soft, and the topping of cherry tomatoes, olives and oregano.

When is focaccia barese eaten?

Mainly in the morning and afternoon as a snack, bought in pieces at bakeries.

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