Lecce produces more rustic pasticiotto each morning than any city in Puglia — the flaky shell-and-custard pastry born here in the 18th century remains the defining breakfast ritual across the Salento peninsula. The city's narrow limestone alleys, carved from the same golden stone that built its baroque facades, shelter family-run bakeries, friggitorie, and wine cellars unchanged since the 1920s. While tourists photograph the Basilica di Santa Croce, locals queue at unmarked doorways for puccia bread stuffed with horse meat, sgagliozze polenta chips fried in chickpea batter, and pettole — yeast-risen dough balls served plain or anchovy-studded during December feast days. Lecce's street food culture reflects centuries of agricultural isolation and ingenuity. The Salento's arid soil yielded wheat, olives, and little else; cooks transformed these staples into an entire lexicon of fried, baked, and stuffed foods designed to stretch ingredients and satisfy field laborers. Pane raffermo — day-old bread — became frisella when twice-baked, then softened with tomato water and olive oil. Cartellate, honey-drenched ribbon pastries shaped like roses, were reserved for Christmas but used the same dough as everyday taralli. Every preparation carried a name, a season, and a family variation passed between generations without written record. Today, a lecce street food tour connects these traditions to the baroque cityscape that UNESCO recognized in 2015. Guides lead small groups through the Jewish Quarter's medieval grid, the Piazza del Duomo's cathedral square, and the artisan workshops of Via Palmieri, stopping at vendors who still hand-roll orecchiette pasta on wooden boards and age ricotta forte in terracotta jars. The walking format — typically two to three hours covering less than two kilometers — allows time to taste, observe preparation methods, and understand the agricultural calendar that governs what appears in shop windows. Wine pairings feature Salento primitivo and negroamaro, both indigenous varietals that thrive in the region's limestone karst soil. The city's compact historic center makes it ideal for culinary exploration on foot. Most lecce street food tour routes begin near Porta Napoli, the triumphal arch erected in 1548, and wind through Via Umberto I's commercial corridor before reaching the artisan quarter south of the Roman amphitheater. Vendors operate from 10:00 onward, with morning hours offering the widest selection of baked goods and midday bringing out fried specialties. The format privileges quality over quantity — five to seven tastings, each paired with context about ingredients, dialect names, and the social role of communal eating in Southern Italian daily life.