Salento - Frisella romance

I am not a foodie or even a person who cares much about food, yet I had this clear memory of a lunch at Babilonia when we visited Salento for the first time, 3 years ago. This small familiar restaurant in Sant'Andrea is the place for great friselle, a tradition in the south of Italy which is basically hard bread, put in water for a little while, topped with simple things like diced tomatoes, tuna or mozzarella.

Located right in between the amazing swimming spots in Sant'Andrea is the perfect pit stop.

Frisella is known as the bread of the Crusaders due to its ability to preserve over time, it favored the provisioning through the journey of the Christian troops. Frisella has always been a traveling bread. The origin of bathing it in sea water comes from the fishermen, who also used it as a base for fish or mussel soups, used during fishing trips that lasted several days. Maybe coz I'm a bit nomad, but this is hands down my summer go-to lunch.

For those who need a bit more (or would like to share) schiaccine, some kind of round sandwich in pizza base, is there to save the day. PSA: Enrique could not finish half, so we kept it for the day after, one triangle was enough as lunch for each of us.