Estocaficada is the Nicois stew of dried stockfish simmered slowly with tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic, potatoes and olives, a dish of the winter table.

French Wikipedia says the habit of cooking stockfish came from Scandinavia and probably reached Nice with merchant ships from Flanders that anchored under the citadel; estocafic is the Nicois word for stockfish and the meal at which it is served is also called an estocaficada. The City of Nice recipe soaks the fish for eight days, then cooks it for three hours with tomatoes, onions, peppers, garlic, black olives and potatoes. La Merenda and Lou Balico list stockfish, and Cave de la Tour cooks it on two Fridays a month at lunchtime.

Where to eat Estocaficada in Nice

3 editor picks for Estocaficada in Nice, ranked by editorial score. All Nice signature dishes · Estocaficada across every city.

  • La Merenda

    Order Stockfish, tripe à la niçoise or chard pie, among Le Stanc's nostalgic local dishes.

    La Merenda is a small restaurant in Vieux Nice on Rue Raoul Bosio, taken over by chef Dominique Le Stanc, a former two-star chef at the Negresco.

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  • Cave de la Tour

    Order Stockfish, dried cod slow-cooked with tomatoes, olives, potatoes and Provençal herbs.

    Cave de la Tour is a wine bar at 3 rue de la Tour in Vieux Nice, open since 1947 and run by the fourth generation of the Gazan family, with a granito counter.

    DetailsDirections

  • Lou Balico

    Order Raviolis à la daube, then the sweet chard pie for dessert.

    Lou Balico is a family restaurant at 20 Avenue Saint Jean Baptiste in Nice, open since 1979, labelled Niçoise cuisine and run by three generations.

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Make it at home

Serves 4192 hrAdvanced

Ingredients

  • 600g stockfish, soaked for 8 days, ideally in running water
  • 1kg ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and crushed
  • 600g potatoes (new, or not too floury)
  • 300g onions
  • 500g peppers (green, yellow or red), grilled and peeled
  • 25g garlic
  • 1 bouquet garni (parsley, thyme, bay, savory, fennel, marjoram)
  • 100g small black olives from Nice
  • 50ml marc brandy
  • 75ml olive oil
  • Salt, pepper and a pinch of cayenne

Method

  1. Eight days ahead, cut the stockfish into 3 to 4cm pieces and soak it, ideally in running water.
  2. Six hours before serving, separate the flesh from skin and bones and flake it. Simmer the bones and skin with two onions, a garlic clove and a bay leaf for 20 to 30 minutes and keep the stock.
  3. Soften the flaked fish in olive oil, then add the marc, sliced onions, garlic, bouquet garni, crushed tomatoes and the peppers cut in strips. Season.
  4. Cook gently under a lid for 3 hours, moistening with the stock, and add blanched potato quarters and the olives for the last half hour.

Editor tip. Keep moistening the stew with the stock: the City of Nice recipe wants a generous sauce at the end to soak into the potatoes.

Common allergens: Fish.