Pissaladiere
Photo: Chris Olszewski · CC BY-SA 4.0

History

Pissaladiere comes from the Nicois word pissalat, the salt-cured anchovy paste that sat at the base of the dish before the modern whole-anchovy lattice took over. The Liguria-Provence influence shows in the dough and the slow onion cooking. The dish remains a staple at Chez Pipo, Le Safari and Cave de la Tour and travels well on the Cours Saleya morning market.

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Common allergens: Gluten, Fish

Make it at home

Yield 4Hands-on 30 minTotal 2 hr 30 minDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 500g pizza dough or bread dough
  • 1.5kg yellow onions, thinly sliced
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 sprigs thyme
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 12 anchovy fillets in olive oil
  • 100g Nicoise olives
  • Salt and pepper

Method

  1. Sweat the onions with the olive oil, garlic, thyme and bay leaves over very low heat for 90 minutes until completely soft and lightly caramelised. Remove the bay and thyme stems.
  2. Roll the dough to fit a 30 by 40 cm baking tray and place on parchment.
  3. Spread the onion confit evenly across the dough leaving a 1cm border. Lay the anchovy fillets in a lattice pattern and dot the olives between the rows.
  4. Bake at 220C for 18 to 22 minutes until the base is dark golden and the edges crisp. Rest 5 minutes and slice into squares to serve.

Tip from the editors. The onions must reduce by half their volume; if you rush the cook the pissaladiere will taste raw rather than mellow.

Where to eat pissaladiere

Pissaladiere in Nice

Chez Pipo ★ 4.5

€ Niçoise

Chez Pipo on Rue Bavastro fires socca in wood burning ovens since 1923, the cheapest meal in Nice at €3-5 a slice between Place Garibaldi and Port Lympia.

TrySocca slice

Directions

Le Safari ★ 4.2

€ Street food

Le Safari on Cours Saleya offers the canonical Nicois lunch since 1972, the Cuisine Nissarde label and pissaladiere on the terrace facing the daily market.

TryPissaladiere terrace plate

Directions

Cave de la Tour ★ 4.3

€€ Wine bar

Cave de la Tour is bellet wine bar with the world petits farcis championship, four generations of gazan family running the vieux nice room since 1947.

Why locals goBellet wine bar with the world petits farcis championship, four generations of Gazan family running the Vieux Nice room since 1947.

TipChamp runs every autumn at the granite counter; book a stool the same morning.

Directions

Rene Socca ★ 4.3

€ Niçoise

Rene Socca on Rue Miralheti in Vieux Nice runs a self service Nicois counter with socca, pissaladiere and beignets de fleurs de courgette under €8 a plate.

TrySocca slice and pissaladiere

Directions

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