A delicious Niçoise specialty.
Neither Provençal nor Italian, the cooking niçoise borrows from one as to the other, to forge an identity of its own, the socca is, without a doubt, the queen of gastronomy Nice.
Opinions differ on the origin of this specialty, but socca is found in various forms all around the Mediterranean, the best known being falafel.
However, it was in the 1900s that this recipe popularized in Nice, especially through Thérésa, a street vendor who sold his production accompanied by a traveling stove. Like many popular dishes, the socca was originally a poor dish, particularly popular with workers, fishermen and other dockers.
The socca (for the pronunciation swallow the ‘a’) is a crepe made from chickpea flour and cooked in a wood oven. His preparation alone is a show; its cooking, the turning of huge plates and the virtuosity with which it is cut to be served hot, just out of the oven, accompanied by pepper and without the help of cutlery.
Crispy and mellow, socca should be eaten on site as quickly as possible. It is also because it is tasted right out of the oven, that in the famous places of Nice, there are several people waiting in line waiting for the next batch.
The socca is usually made in a round copper plate of 50 cm diameter generously oiled and cooked at a temperature of 280 °.
If you go through Nice this summer, do not miss to taste, at the time of the aperitif, this specialty so dear to the heart of Nice and that will seduce you by its simplicity and its taste qualities.
Recipe of the socca for 8 people:
1 liter of water, 300 grams of chickpea flour, 8 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 teaspoon of fine salt.
Pour cold water, chickpea flour, olive oil and salt into a bowl. Whisk vigorously to remove lumps. Switch to Chinese Heat a copper plate 50 cm in diameter well oiled. Once very hot, pour and spread the preparation in this plate (about 2 to 3 millimeters thick). Cook in a very hot oven (280 °). Remove the plate from the oven, as soon as the dough is golden brown and crisp, or slightly burned in places.
Cut small pieces, pepper and taste quickly.
