Among the most representative food of Salento, these two delicatessen coming from rotisserie.
Rustico is a delicious disc of puff pastry stuffed with tomato sauce, béchamel and a pinch of pepper.
Calzone is the same dish called somewhere else in Italy panzerotto: it can be fried or baked.
Among the icons of the cuisine of Lecce there are also two sweets: pasticciotto and fruttone.
Pasticciotto is a sweet which compactness is tough, realized with short pastry stuffed with cream.
Fruttone has a similar oval shape, but it is covered with a chocolate glaze and filled with jam.
Salento offers a wide variety of sweets and desserts, from the typical Christmas proposals like the so called purceddhruzzi and ncarteddhrate, to the pastries made with almonds.
Puccia is the name of another delicatessen coming from Lecce. It is a soft and quite big sandwich: you can fill it with many different ingredients.
Sceblasti or pizzo is an exquisite alternative to traditional bread, a special bread flavoured with olives, onion, courgettes, capers and many more ingredients.
Taralli are another bakery product, available in many different flavours and varieties.
Among the gastronomic symbols typical of Lecce, frisa, once the classical poor dish for less wealthy families, is the member with full rights. It is a tough bread, to be dunk in water and flavoured with tomato, salt, olive oil and possibly with other ingredients like tuna, rocket, capers.
Trattorie and restaurants in Lecce propose various types of homemade pasta, locally produced. One of the most traditional dishes is “ciceri e tria”, a very particular pasta with chickpeas, where pasta is partly fried and partly boiled.
It is not surprisingly that fish specialties are abundant in Salento, and a particular care is devoted to fish-fry.
In the days of the feast of the saint of the city, Sant’Oronzo, and in the different feasts of the patron saints, a very popular dish is “scapece”, marinated and fried fish with a soft texture the unmistakable yellow colour.
For those who prefer meat, an appreciated specialty in Salento are called turcinieddhri, spicy rolls prepared with lamb and kid entrails to roast. A very well-liked meat specialty is composed by little pieces of equine meat with tomato sauce.
