Salade Niçoise, meaning salad from Nice, is served in restaurants all over the world making it undoubtedly the most famous of the local gastronomic specialities from the Côte d’Azur, but have you heard of my top 3 best snacks from Nice?  When visiting Nice on the French Riviera you’ve just got to try them.

Socca

socca and glass of rosé best snacks from Nice

Socca is the ultimate street food or snack from Nice. It is basically a large chickpea crêpe, cooked on a copper dish about a metre wide in a wood-fired oven, consisting of chickpea flour, olive oil, salt and water.  While cooking, the flames should just lick the surface without grilling it too much; there’s an art to perfecting this delicious pancake.

It should be very thin and slightly burnt on the top.  Socca is served in little scrapings, piping hot with lots of pepper and ideally a glass of cold rosé!

Pan-Bagnat

pan-bagnat best snack from Nice

Another delicious snack from Nice is a Pan-Bagnat, a great big round bread roll, stuffed with tuna, tomato, onion, basil, slices of hard boiled egg, anchovy, radish, green pepper, black olives and plenty of olive oil – basically a salad niçoise in bread.

pan-bagnat snack from Nice

The name comes from Italian pane bagnato meaning wet bread, which indicates just how much olive oil should be used – loads! Don’t expect to look elegant when eating this delight; you’ll have oil dripping everywhere. Great for eating on the beach – just jump in the sea to rinse off when you’ve finished.

Pissaladière

pissaladiere one of the best snacks from Nice

This unfortunately named dish (to English ears) often doesn’t look great either, but trust me, it tastes wonderful.  The name comes from “peis salats” which means anchovy purée in Nissart, giving a clue as to one of the ingredients.  It is in fact a sort of onion and anchovy tart.

pissaladière one of the best snacks from Nice

It consists of a  base made of a reasonably thick, and very soft, bread-like dough topped with a generous covering of lightly caramelised onions that should melt in the mouth.  Some people add whole anchovy fillets on top, others spread anchovy paste on the base before adding the onions.  Both versions are authentic and delicious. Pissaladière is dotted with black olives and can be served cold or warm but not hot.

socca chez pipo

You can find Pan-Bagnat and Pissaladière in boulangeries and snack bars all over the Côte d’Azur but Socca is less widely available.  Sellers using a traditional oven are located mainly in the old town of Nice, at markets in nearby towns (Antibes every morning is a good example) and at village fêtes.

socca and socca ovens at fête

For more about food from Nice and the general area you might enjoy A gastronomic tour of Nice and Top 8 must-try foods from Provence

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best snacks from Nice

 

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