P
Italian · Puglia
Puccia con Olive Nere e Acciughe Salentina
The street bread of the Salento — a round, dense roll made from semolina dough enriched with coarsely chopped Cellina di Nardò black olives and whole anchovy fillets mixed into the dough before baking. The olives and anchovy bake into the crumb, releasing their oils and salinity throughout. Eaten as a snack or filled with roasted peppers, tuna or grilled vegetables — the ultimate Salentino panino.
I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
500 g
semolina rimacinata
fine-ground durum semolina only — no wheat flour
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
320 ml
water
lukewarm
Your own market
10 g
fine sea salt
Your own market
7 g
dried yeast
or equivalent fresh
Your own market
150 g
Cellina di Nardò black olives
pitted, roughly chopped — not sliced; Ogliarola acceptable
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
60 g
salted anchovy fillets
small, whole — drained if oil-packed
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1
egg
beaten, for egg wash
Your own market
II
The Method
1
Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water and leave for five minutes. Tip the semolina rimacinata and salt into a large bowl, make a well, and pour in the yeast liquid. Mix until a shaggy dough forms, then turn out and knead firmly for eight minutes. Semolina absorbs water more slowly than wheat flour; the dough will feel stiff and slightly grainy at first, then gradually tighten into a smooth, cohesive mass.
2
This is where the puccia lives or dies. In the final two minutes of kneading only, scatter the roughly chopped olives and the whole small anchovy fillets across the dough and work them in with deliberate folds. Incorporating oil-rich ingredients earlier inhibits gluten development and produces a roll that is dense and compressed rather than chewy. The dough should remain cohesive; the olives and anchovy should be distributed throughout without being pulped.
3
Form the dough into a ball, cover and leave to rise until doubled. Semolina doughs proof more slowly than wheat doughs; allow accordingly and judge by volume, not the clock.
4
Place a baking stone or heavy baking sheet on the middle shelf of the oven and heat to 220 °C. Divide the dough into six equal pieces. Shape each into a flattened round approximately 10 cm in diameter and 2.5 cm thick. The flat shape ensures even baking through the dense semolina crumb. Set on a lightly floured surface, cover, and proof for 45 minutes, until each round is clearly and visibly puffed.
5
Brush each puccia lightly with the beaten egg. Transfer to the hot stone or sheet — the intense bottom heat is what sets the characteristic dense, chewy crumb. Bake at 220 °C until the exterior is deep golden and firm to a light tap; the underside should sound hollow when knocked. The crust will carry a slight hardness that semolina alone does not achieve without the egg wash.
6
Transfer to a wire rack. The puccia is best eaten the same day, slightly warm. Semolina bread goes stale faster than wheat bread. Serve plain as a snack, or filled with roasted peppers, tuna or grilled vegetables.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Cellina di Nardò olives sourced directly from a Salentino frantoio — small, intensely flavoured, hand-pitted; salt-packed Sicilian or Cantabrian anchovies, rinsed and filleted to order; stone-ground semolina rimacinata from a single durum variety.
02
Estate — Cellina di Nardò or Ogliarola olives from a named Puglian producer, vacuum-packed without brine; good-quality oil-packed anchovy fillets, well-drained; commercial fine semolina rimacinata of declared durum origin.
03
Market — Any unpitted black olive of firm flesh, roughly chopped after pitting; standard tin-packed anchovy fillets; widely available semolina rimacinata.
04
House — Jarred pitted black olives in brine — drain and dry thoroughly; anchovy paste used sparingly in place of whole fillets; any durum semolina labelled rimacinata available in the supermarket.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Touch. After eight minutes of kneading the plain semolina dough is smooth and cohesive — no longer grainy or shaggy under the palm.
◇Touch. After folding in the olives and anchovy the dough still holds together in a unified mass; it is not greasy or slack.
◇Sight. After the first proof the dough has visibly doubled in volume.
◇Sight. After the second proof each round is clearly and unmistakably puffed — semolina doughs rise more slowly, so do not cut the 45 minutes short on appearance alone.
◇Sound. Baked pucce sound hollow when the underside is tapped — the crumb has set through the dense semolina mass.
◇Where it lives or dies. The olives and anchovy must be folded into the dough in the final two minutes of kneading only — earlier addition of oil-rich ingredients suppresses gluten development and produces a compressed, leaden roll rather than a chewy, open crumb.
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VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Whisky
From British Columbia
Wine
Without alcohol
GT's Synergy Organic Kombucha — Gingerade
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Non-alcoholic
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The whole pairingPillar VII
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