Octopus “pignata made” is the most popular traditional Salento recipe to prepare octopus, which in turn is one of the most loved and appreciated fish species in the province.






Products, aromatic herbs and tradition come together in this small collection on the poor and non-traditional cuisine of our tradition, rich in dominating influences and genuineness.
“The Western Greeks ate as if they had to die the next day and built as if they never had to die”, so wrote Empedocles once speaking of Magna Graecia and Sicily; and today it is easy to recognize the unchanged tradition and power of Salento’s cuisine and scents.
Majestic olive oil, tomato sauce, mulled wine, sweet and savory taralli, pasticciotti, mustazzoli, cupeta and quince, friselle, cacioericotta, zuccarine potatoes, orecchiette and maccaruni … A culinary tradition that we at the Locanda tell in small steps in this small section and with free weekly tastings (link to the tastings section) of wines and typical products of the area. After tasting, you can buy the products, as souvenirs of our land.
We wish you much fun in recreating these simple recipes, and we are waiting for you at our Locanda, inviting you to try our traditional version.
Already from the day of Saint Lucia, the kitchens of Salento begin to become animated by a feverish activity that sees the female members of the family gathered together, masterful interpreters of an ancient script that is renewed in the roles of those who knead, cut, fry, decorate, compose.
The scapece is a specialty made up of fish of particular species, fried, layered with breadcrumbs in special tubs and marinated with vinegar colored with saffron. The fish traditionally used for this preparation are the zerro, locally called pupiddhru, the garizzo, distinguished on the basis of sex in mascularu and fimmineddhra, the small boghe and the silversides, locally called minoscia.
The “cozze piccinne allu rienu” is an archaic as well as very poor dish consisting of the small terrestrial snails of the Pisan Euparipha species, simply boiled, salted and flavored with oregano.
The aubergine of Santu Ronzu or merangianata te Santu Ronzu is a kind of pie made with fried aubergines, variously stuffed, sprinkled with tomato sauce and baked in the oven.
The friselle arrived in Salento probably with the first Greek navigators who apparently used it as biscuits, but their large-scale diffusion occurred when, less than a century ago, with the decline of the feudalism, typical buildings spread in the countryside house, the “furneddhi”, where the peasants often spent the summer with the aim of obtaining supplies for the winter.