What is a puccia?
Walk around anywhere in the Salento and you’re bound to pass a shop selling pucce. Puccia (pronounced POOH-cha), is really the name of the crumbless bread/bun on which these sandwiches are made. (The plural is pucce [POOH-chay]) They can be filled with anything under the sun… well, anything that will fit (and you’d be surprised at what will fit). Historically it was a food that farmers brought to sustain them during long days working the fields.
These days, however, the puccia is a quintessential street food of the salento, and it is easy to see why. Not only is it delicious, especially if you go to the right place, it’s easy to find one to suit every taste, and can be very portable. You can get one made in the morning on your way out of town to eat at the beach.
How to make a puccia
It’s considered a street food, but you don’t have to go out for a puccia. In fact, you can buy them in the grocery stores in Puglia (the puccia breads come in packages in the bakery section) and fill them however you want. The tricky part is grilling, but if you have a kitchen where you are staying, or even at home, it can be done. Or, just skip the grilling. It isn’t a requirement.
You can fill a puccia with anything you want. But if you need ideas, I’ve gathered a few recipes for inspiration.
Where to get a puccia in Lecce
If you don’t have a kitchen, or you just want to enjoy one of these culinary delights while out sightseeing or as a late night snack while you are out on the town, there are a few notable puccerie in Lecce:
I Panini di Sergio
This was my first experience with Pucce and I’m very glad it was. Sergio and his wife run the shop and they are some of the warmest, most welcoming people I have ever met. The menu in the shop is just for show. I tried to order from it a couple of times, only to discover that a particular ingredient was sold out for the day… but this is by no means a negative thing. Instead, you look in the case at what fillings there are and start building. Sergio will make suggestions as you go – and even if your italian is poor, or nonexistent, the communication back and forth as you co-create a puccia masterpiece is all part of the fun. What you end up with when you go here is a beautiful, unique work of sandwich art.
Edit: I was so sad to see that Sergio is no longer making his sandwiches and his Facebook page no longer exists so I may never know why — I’m hoping it’s a happy retirement spent on Salento’s idyllic beaches. I’m not going to take the part off the page, though, as though it never existed. Such places in the world are increasingly rare and deserve recognition…. even if it’s just in a small corner of a small website.
L’angolino di via Matteotti
This place is recommended by a friend of mine who grew up in Lecce. They have a great menu of pucce that are all stuffed with typical regional ingredients. They offer a list of options, but you are welcome to modify to your particular tastes. Different fillings include cima di rape, cavallo (horse meat), sausage, olives, lamponcini, mushrooms, and so many others. The puccia itself can be either the standard white bread, negramaro (a local wine), and grain.
My favorite is the vegetarian puccia, hold the mushrooms, per favore. I honestly couldn’t tell the difference when I had it made with the negramaro puccia, since the spicy filling pretty much dominated whatever delicate flavor the negramaro brought to the bread.
This is a little pricier than other places. You’ll pay around 6 euro, plus an extra euro for a bread upgrade.
Address: Via Giacomo Matteotti, 31, 73100, Lecce Italia
La prelibatezza dal 1941 — pucceria e birra artigianale
The pucceria has been a family run business since it began in 1941 and their dedication to the tradition of the puccia is well known. Three generations in, they are still strictly a pucceria, and that’s it. They also raise the bar when it comes to ingredients, all of which are locally sourced — km 0 or chilometro zero.
In a place so dedicated to crafting the most authentic puccia possible, I thought it appropriate to try their “traditional” puccia (without mushrooms, grazie). It’s packed with vegetables, with a tiny bit of heat from the peppers, a tangy kick from the aged ricotta, and a rich drizzle of olive oil.
Aged ricotta isn’t everyone’s favorite thing. It’s also called ricotta forte or, in dialect, scante. It has a flavor like strong bleu cheese. If you’re unsure about it, you may want to ask to try it before you add it to your puccia. I, personally, am not a fan of strong cheeses, but the judicious amount they spread on the puccia adds a depth of flavor that I liked — in spite of my usual opinion of it.
Address: Via Giuseppe Libertini, 46, 73100 Lecce LE
I’m sure there are more pucceria in the Salento and even in Lecce that serve up a delicious puccia as well. These are just a couple recommended places to get you started. The best suggestion is to continue to try different places — in Salento, you are spoiled for choice!
Photo credit: Mirko.leo / CC BY-SA