Our Posti del Cuore | Panificio Violante, Bari
When your all-time favorite panificio becomes your neighbour
Welcome to our fresh new Cabinet of Curiosities, the source for your monthly food digest and discovery of all things curious about the world of Italian food culture!
This year, alongside the newsletters, you’ll find short Morsels of stories and insights on Instagram. Both the social Morsels and the newsletter will follow a monthly theme that has the purpose of focusing our narration and uncovering even more in-depth stories.
These past few months we’ve been doing things a little different. The La Panza Piena team members have decided to share one of their Posti del Cuore, places “of the heart”. Trattorie, specialty shops and food labs are amongst the collection, whose aim is to celebrate the hard work the people in each place do, and have been doing for generations.
Panificio Violante, Bari
by Benedetta Mangini: twenty-something, lover of all cuisines - yet Italian foodie at heart
Panificio Violante has always been considered one of the best bakeries in Bari. For those who live or pass by Bari’s neighborhood of Madonnella, it is a mandatory stop to gather baked goods and ice cold drinks on the way to Pane e Pomodoro beach, just a few minutes away.
Never would I have even dreamed that my mother would end up moving right next to Violante earlier this year. Her apartment shares a wall with the bakery, whose ovens flood our house with the salty aroma of focaccia all throughout the day, starting as early as 4AM.
The oven was opened in 1925 by Leonardo Violante, when the neighbourhood was still coming together in the wake of WW1. Even the seafront walkway where we usually sit down to bite into Violante’s delicacies did not exist back then, as it was completed in the early 1930s.
Following the same ritual as when it first opened, the day at Violante’s workshop starts at 3AM, while the doors to the shop open to the public at 7 on the dot, when the Violante brothers come together to keep the family business and legacy alive. The first bite into the low, crunchy dough of their focaccia is one of the highlights of my yearly homecomings.
Thin and crunchy focaccia is typical of the city of Bari, however Violante created a version of the thin base topped with tomato sauce instead of smashed San Marzano tomatoes. Most people favour this variety as the sweetness of the cooked sauce, perfumed lightly with oregano, marries beautifully with the deep flavour of the burnt crust creating a perfectly umami mouthful.
My go-to is always their classic focaccia barese, as I prefer the tang of the fresh San Marzano tomatoes. In just over 20 minutes of baking in a stone oven, the tomatoes soften whilst also caramelizing on top and remaining slightly acidic on the inside. If you ever happen to stumble across this true gem, try both focaccias, and also get a taste of their delicious selection of stuffed brioche buns and pizze farcite (the onion one is a banger).
