The hard wheat, tomatoes and pure olive oil is the strength of the Salentina cooking.
Among the many typical dishes you find "cicero tria" wheat tagliatelles made from hard wheat mixed with only water and cooked in chickpea broth; broad bean soup and artichokes, turnips, grilled eggplant salad, Parmesan of eggplants; tomatoes and peppers pickled in oil, "lampasciuni": little wild onions of the family of the "mùscari" are boiled and used in salads or in sweet and sour dishes with the vincotto or pickles; the homemade pasta with hard wheat flour or barley "orecchiette" with "minchiareddhri" tiny pasta with tomato sauce or with the slightly fried turnip-tops; "sagne" a kind of narrow curly tagliatelles.

The "turcinieddhri", roulades of lamb entrails cooked on an open fire, the "gnemmarieddhri", roulades of cooked tripe in broth, the "monicceddhri" earth snails lightly fried.

The fish is the protagonist of the table: mullets, lobsters, squids, scorpion-fishes, mullets, pray, cooked in soups or roasted. Black mussels,clams, raw walnuts with fried lemon or cooked au gratin in the oven, Gallipolina fish soup, octopus "in pignatta", "vermicelli" with crabs, "gallipolinoes scapeces": little fish called "puppiddhi" fried and mixed with bread crumbs and marinated in vinegar, mussels excellent with spaghetti.

The typical homemade bread with hard wheat flour and cooked in a stone oven has a particular taste.
There are various types among which are the so called "pucces" loaves with olives, the "Pizzi" small loaves mixed with tomato, onion, capers and black and olives cooked on an open wood fire.

The "Freseddhre" are typically made of wheat or barley and are eaten after being marinated and softened and seasoned with tomato, salt, oil and oregano.

Among the best desserts we can note "pasta te mendula" an almond paste from which Christmas fish and Easter lambs are made; the "mustazzoli"A biscuit covered in softened chocolate with vincotto and rum, the "taralli" a sweet dough covered in white icing; "kupeta" a cup of almonds and honey, the "cotognata" candied quince jam is a speciality typical of Lecce.

The excellent wine of local production: reds and roses obtained from the bitter black grapes of a vine that is cultivated with excellent results only here as it needs light and colour There are seven recognized wines of quality doc and are: Copertino, Alezio, Matino, Leverano, Squinzano, Nardo and Salice Salentino.