Routeotranto

Otranto Food

Eat in Otranto where the Adriatic seafood including the fresh ricci sea urchins, the grilled octopus, the raw shellfish, and the cuttlefish pasta combine with the olive oil and wine of the Salento peninsula to create a seafood-focused cuisine of outstanding freshness and simplicity in the restaurants of the harbor and the old town.

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1
Harbor Restaurants
Dine at the harbor front restaurants of Otranto where the daily catch from the Adriatic is served in the outdoor tables overlooking the fishing boats, the menu changing with what was caught that morning and the traditional Apulian seafood preparations of raw urchins, grilled fish, and pasta with shellfish the core of the offering.
2
Sea Urchins
Eat fresh ricci di mare sea urchins at Otranto where the urchins are among the finest on the Adriatic coast, the orange roe eaten raw with bread and a squeeze of lemon or used as the sauce for the local spaghetti, the urchin season from October to April providing the freshest examples at the harbor restaurants and the fish market stalls.
3
Ciceri e Tria
Eat ciceri e tria, the traditional Salento pasta dish of fried and boiled pasta noodles with chickpeas that is the most ancient pasta preparation in Apulia, the dish combining the crunchy fried pasta with the soft boiled pasta and the creamy chickpea base in a unique textural combination that represents the peasant cooking tradition of the Otranto hinterland.
4
Local Wine
Drink the local wines of the Salento Orientale zone around Otranto where the Negroamaro and the Malvasia Nera grapes produce the deep, warming red wines that accompany the seafood cuisine in a pairing that seems counterintuitive but reflects the local tradition, the coastal Salento wineries producing increasingly refined wines from these ancient Apulian varieties.
5
Pastizzotti
Try pastizzotti, the small cream pastries of the Salento that are the sweet counterpart to the Lecce pasticciotto, the miniature versions filled with custard or jam sold from the pastry shops of Otranto representing the sophisticated pasticceria tradition of the eastern Salento that rivals the more famous sweet traditions of Lecce.
6
Fish Market
Visit the Otranto fish market on the harbor front where the morning catch of Adriatic fish and shellfish is displayed on the market stalls, the ricci sea urchins, the polpi octopus, the sarde sardines, and the cozze mussels providing the freshest possible introduction to the seafood pantry that drives the Otranto restaurant scene.