The couscous of Salento also conquers chefs

That a life as a lawyer would not make him happy, he realized from his very first encounter with courtrooms: Francesco Cantoro wanted to break out of the mold—and he succeeded by inventing Friscous. Born in an artisanal workshop in Ruffano, in southern Salento, Friscous entered the market with the credentials of an innovative yet natural food, made entirely with selected flours obtained from Cappelli wheat, other Italian durum wheats, sourdough starter, and turmeric.

The favored ears of wheat are those that turn golden under the Apulian sun, Italy’s granary since Roman times. Attention to the quality of each harvest is rigorous: crops are meticulously monitored by food technologists. The durum wheat semolina has a low gluten index. The aromas are those typical of sourdough, enhanced by the antioxidant properties of turmeric.

In short, what emerges is a food that is ideal even for those following vegan and vegetarian diets. Just add a drizzle of oil or a splash of water, as recipe books recommend, to create pleasant pairings with vegetables, mollusks, crustaceans, fish, or meat.

There are no limits to creativity. Just three years after production began, this food innovation has already caught the attention of renowned chefs from Michelin-starred restaurants. For a number of reasons—three above all: flavor, versatility that makes the product easy to pair with many other foods, and the crunchiness or softness that, depending on the case, can be achieved to give dishes the desired characteristics.

Friscous is the result of a skillfully calibrated blend of natural products, with nothing else added.

This is guaranteed by “Gaele srl,” the producing company, which hides nothing about the origin and quality of the ingredients, while understandably guarding everything else closely—from quantities to processing methods. With evident pride, Francesco Cantoro describes the strictly artisanal characteristics of the supply chain, the defining trait of the company founded almost as a bet together with three friends, all under 30 like him: Paolo Gabrieli, Massimo De Donno, and Donato Meraglia. Share capital of just three thousand euros and a long road ahead.

“After graduating in Law, I started frequenting the courts, but I didn’t find myself in that world, so I thought of doing something different, with a clear objective: it had to be truly innovative. We invented Friscous by involving local bakers to ensure processing using traditional methods,” Cantoro states from the command bridge of the company, of which he is managing director.

Artisanal processing and baking in ancient olive-wood-fired ovens enhance flavor and taste, making this «Made in Salento» specialty an ally of health—according to information provided by the producers. Credit is due to them for transforming an intuition into a concrete entrepreneurial project. A bet that is steadily consolidating with the expansion of the brand into international markets, more recently also in the USA, in Cincinnati, an outpost from which the company is launching more ambitious commercial challenges.

Cantoro explains: “We started with small productions, but the feedback we received—even from important chefs and Michelin-starred restaurants—gave us the push to continue along this path. Market appreciation, after all, could only be an incentive. We are satisfied with what we have done so far, but also determined to do more and do better.”

All of this takes place in a territory that, despite its difficulties, continues to seek economic redemption by taking bold leaps forward. Geographic marginality, infrastructural shortcomings, inefficient services, and Byzantine bureaucracy remain factors that slow development—along with cultural encrustations that still keep too many young people tied to traditional careers.

As if becoming a doctor, a lawyer, or an accountant were the only way to fulfill oneself and gain a respectable social position. This is how, too often, the ancient bond with the land—the true treasure of the Salento peninsula—has been severed, neglected in favor of the siren call of the bourgeois dream.

Cantoro and his companions go against the current, convinced that perspectives must be rethought by relying on the resources that nature provides. From this ideal, «Friscous» was born. In a word, the synthesis of a well-reasoned project, designed to travel far—until it enters the official gourmet vocabulary.