One of Nice's most famous dishes is Salade Niçoise
I am on the French
Riviera preparing for two different groups at the estate in which Julia Child
wrote her famous two cookbooks, Mastering
the Art of French Cooking. One of the Riviera’s best foodie
experiences is in the historic part of Nice.
The cobblestoned streets of the old town are a treasure trove for any food-lover.
I love Nice’s Perouse
hotel for many reasons and one of the most compelling is its location on the
sea and right next to the city’s magnificent outdoor market. The largest
on the Riviera, the Cours Saleya market is filled with food vendors whose
families have owned the same stalls in the market for many generations.
No foodie's trip to Nice would be complete without a visit to this beguiling
culinary paradise.
One of the items you
will find at the Cours Saleya market is Socca, a crepe-like snack made from
garbanzo beans. The woman who sells the best version is the one who cooks
it in a giant cast-iron skillet over a wooden fire. It's the perfect
gluten-free edible as this high protein street-food contains no wheat flour.
Originally from neighboring Italy (the border is less than 25 miles away),
this classical Niçoise dish actually originated in Genoa (where today it is
known as farinata).
The Cours Saleya is
also filled with vendors selling Provence's famous goat cheeses. You'll
find multiple shapes and sizes, and many renditions including goat cheese coated
with herbs of Provence, wrapped in chestnut leaves, or even chevre studded with Provence's black truffles.
There are also countless stalls at
the Cours Saleya market offering a cornucopia of olives. Like goat cheeses, the olives come in
multiple reditions from the colossal green picholine to the teeny-tiny Niçoise
varietal----these petite brownish-black
olives are only grown in this area of France and are prized for their pleasant nutty
flavor.
Not far from the Cours Saleya is one
of the Riviera’s most famous olive oil makers. Well known in the US for
its attractive up-market packaging, Alziari has been producing "Grand
Cru" olive oil in Nice since 1868. The retail shop, actually
it's more a museum than a store, is worth seeing. Although it is very
small, it is chocked full of history. Up until 15 years ago, olive oil
was sold in bulk and shoppers brought in their own containers to be filled from the
giant stainless steel vats in the
store. The huge tanks are still in the store located at 14 rue Saint
François de Paule.
Nice has its own
cuisine. In addition to Salade Niçoise, here are some of the classical Niçoise dishes that shouldn’t be missed…
Pissaladiere: Think of this snack as Nice's
version of pizza. It is often topped with carmelized onions, fresh
anchovies, and Niçoise olives.
Le Pan Baginat: This sandwich is a Salade Niçoise on a baguette. It’s perfect for a
picnic at Nice's beach.
Soupe au Pistou: Nice was once ruled by nearby
Genoa, Italy. Genoa is the home of pesto, and this soup is France's translation
of minestrone with pesto.
Ratatouille: This
flavor-chocked dish is a vegetable stew flavored with the herbs of Provence.
Daube: A complex-flavored beef
stew, this dish is Nice's answer to Beef Bourguignon, only it’s cooked using hearty
local red wine.
Les Petits Farcis: One of my
favorites, these delectable stuffed vegetables are rarely seen on modern menus
as they are labor intensive. Often
stuffed with veal or beef, they also contain onions, breadcrumbs, tomatoes, and
herbs of Provence.
Bon appetit!
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