The short answer: Puglia-style pizza is a thin, crisp pizza with a light crumb, made for a few very good toppings rather than a heavy load. Unlike Neapolitan pizza, it isn't a style with official rules. At The Code it means the pizza of Salento, in southern Puglia, where our chef and founder Alessio Albano is from.
Where is Puglia?
Puglia (Apulia in English) is the region that forms the heel of Italy's boot, with the Adriatic Sea on one side and the Ionian Sea on the other. Its southern tip is the Salento peninsula, and the main city of Salento is Lecce, famous for its honey-coloured baroque buildings.
Puglia is farming country. It produces more olive oil than any other Italian region, grows durum wheat, tomatoes and vegetables, and has a long coastline, so seafood is everywhere. Its cooking is the classic example of cucina povera, "the poor kitchen": simple dishes built from a few excellent local ingredients.
How is it different from Neapolitan and Roman pizza?
Plenty of Melbourne pizzerias make Neapolitan pizza. Puglia-style sits closer to the thin, crisp end of the scale.
| Style | The base | How it's cooked | What to expect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neapolitan | Soft, thin, foldable centre with a puffy, charred rim (the cornicione) | Very hot wood-fired oven, about 60–90 seconds | Chewy and soft. Protected in the EU as a traditional speciality, with strict rules |
| Roman (tonda) | Rolled very thin, with almost no rim | Longer bake at a lower heat | Crackly and crisp all the way through |
| Roman pala | Wet, long-rising dough stretched into a long oval | Baked and served on a wooden paddle (pala) | Airy, open crumb and a crisp underside. Shared by the slice |
| Puglia-style at The Code | Thin and crisp, with a lighter crumb | Made to order in our Collingwood kitchen | A few good toppings on San Marzano tomato or mozzarella, not piled high |
What does "pizza pugliese" mean?
This one confuses people. In pizzerias all over Italy, a pizza pugliese on the menu usually means a topping, not a style of base: tomato, mozzarella and onion, often with oregano and sometimes olives. When we say Puglia-style, we mean the whole approach to the pizza, not that one topping.
Rosse and bianche: red and white pizza
Our menu is split the way many southern-Italian pizzerias split theirs:
- Rosse (red) start with San Marzano tomato. Try the Regina Margherita first; it's the easiest way to judge a base.
- Bianche (white) have no tomato, so the mozzarella and toppings lead. The Capitan Salento, with prawns and marinated squid, and the Green Life, with zucchini cream and burrata, are the ones to try.
The food of Puglia and Salento, beyond pizza
If you've been to Puglia, these are the things you'll remember:
- Burrata, the cream-filled mozzarella, comes from Andria in northern Puglia. It's on our menu as Burrata All the Way.
- Orecchiette, the "little ear" pasta, is Puglia's signature shape, classically served with cime di rapa (turnip greens).
- Focaccia barese from Bari, pressed with cherry tomatoes and olives.
- Frisa, a twice-baked bread ring softened with water and topped with tomato and olive oil, and taralli, the crunchy rings you snack on with a drink.
- From Lecce: rustico leccese, puff pastry filled with béchamel, mozzarella and tomato, and pasticciotto, a custard-filled shortcrust pastry eaten for breakfast.
Our pasta changes with the seasons, so ask what's on when you come in.
Who's cooking
The Code was opened by chef Alessio Albano, who comes from Lecce and was head chef at DOC Carlton before starting his own place in Collingwood. He sources San Marzano tomatoes and Parmigiano Reggiano from Italy and buys produce at the market. Read our story.
Where to eat Puglia-style pizza in Melbourne
Come to The Code Pizza Bar at 37 Langridge Street, Collingwood, two minutes' walk from Smith Street. We're open for lunch Monday to Saturday, 11:30am to 1:30pm, and dinner every night, 6:00pm to 10:00pm. You can book a table, order online for pickup or delivery around Collingwood, Fitzroy, Abbotsford and Richmond, or see directions and parking.