We didn’t spend much time in Nice, but knew since we arrived in there that we need to try some local treats. What’s so characteristic about Nice’s cuisine is that it’s kind of a mix of what’s French and what’s Italian – Nice became a part of France in 1860, after its residents voted for it in a referendum. You’ll find a lot of Italian pasta with ravioli and gnocchi ahead with typical, strongly meaty daube sauce. Although we love Italian cuisine (but you already know that!), we wanted to try things you can eat here and nowhere else… or mainly here!:)
I was most excited about Nice’s “street food”! Yes, they have some in here and even its description sounded delicious! To try it, it’s best to go to one of Nice’s most picturesque places, which is a flower and vegetable fair in district Cours Saleya. You will find different restraurants and brasseries here, but it’s best if you go in the morning, when the stands are full of vegetables, fruits, cheese and different soaps (lavender!), plates or fresh French bread. Among all stands, you need to look for those focused on local treats… I’m sure you will see plates with signs like SOCCA, PAN BAGNAT or PISSALADIERE. That’s where you need to stop and eat!!!!:)
5 DISHES/SNACKS TO TRY IN NICE:
1) PAN BAGNAT
I’m gonna start with our favorite, although I must admit I wasn’t conviced at first… However, the one we tried at the fair was totally amazing and made us want to try to make our own Pan Bagnat at home.
It’s a sandwich made out of a crispy baguette stuffed with… Nice salad!:) You probably know it, but if not, go to number 4. Pan bagnats are different from each other – we liked the one wit tuna, anchois, tomatoes, hard boiled egg and a little bit of onion and radish the most. Sometimes they add salad to it ass well. While serving you the sandwich, the seller usually puts some olive oil inside – in the end, if you translate pan bagnat, it’s “wet bread”. You have to try it! We’ll be testing our homemade version soon 😉
2) PISSALADIERE
I fell upon pissaladiere, which is an onion tart with olives and anchois, on our first evening in Nice. When we went out for dinner, it was one of the appetizers we could choose from… I’d read about it before and I decided to try it. I don’t really like raw onion, but this one’s stewed, delicate and very delicious. It tastes great combined with anchois (in Nice dialect, pissalà means anchois). You will find pissaladiere both as side dish in restaurants and at a fair. You will see huge tarts there, and the sellers will give you a picese. Yummy! We would always eat it with such joy that after one piece “for the two us”, we’d buy one more 🙂
3) SOCCA
You will find socca immediately, because it’s made in characteristic huge frying pans. In them a gigantic pancake is made on the basis of chickpea flour. It’s served hot and bestrewed with a lot of pepper. The seller will chop off your portion for you and will give you a few shattered pieces of the pancake in white paper. It’s a cool snack, but it lost the contest with pissaladiere and pan bagnat for us. See for yourself which position it will reach on your chart!
4) NICE SALAD (SALADE NICOISE)
Obvious obviousness. If you’re in Nice, you eat Nice salad. I’m sure you know it, don’t you? We ate it in poland and Poland, but in Nice it tastes the best! Ingredients vary depending on a restaurant preparing it, but you will always find a hard-boiled egg, tuna, anchois, tomatoes and other fresh vegetables in it. Sometimes you’ll get some artichokes and you’ll almost always get olives. It’s best if you pour olive oil over it before eating. If you’re with your plus one, you should order the salad and pissaladiere first – it’s a perfect couple to share!
5) LA TARTE TROPEZIENNE
Tropézienne tart, as its name suggests, comes from Saint Tropez, but you will find it in pastry shops and restaurants in Nice too. It caught my attention immediately – walking past some pastry shop I said to Łukasz: “look, some cool cake!”. Then we had a chance to try it and we found out it was tarte tropezienne. The dough reminds me of leavened cake or brioche cake, and it’s stuffed with sweet, vanilla cream. We liked it very much!
What’s interesting, they say that tarte tropezienne was made in Saint Tropez in 1955 by a Polish confectioner for the first time ever. He made it for some movie crew that was working in the town. Rumours say that Brigitte Bardot herself loved it, so you will too! 🙂
Now what? Are we going to Nice??? 🙂 And don’t forget about croissants for breakfast… they taste even better when you have a good view on the city!!
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