Socca is Nice's chickpea flour pancake: thin batter baked on a large copper plate in a very hot oven until golden and crisp, then peppered and eaten hot.

The City of Nice says socca comes from Liguria, where the same pancake is called farinata, and describes a large thin galette cooked on tinned copper plates in a pizza oven. Chez Pipo's history of the dish says sellers carried it through the old town in the early 1900s, among them a woman called Theresa who sold it from a stove on the Quai du Midi, and that it nearly disappeared in the 1960s, when only a few places still made it. Chez Pipo, on Rue Bavastro, serves it plain or topped with anchovy, marinated peppers or confit tomatoes, and says its socca has baked in the same oven for nearly 100 years.

Where to eat Socca in Nice

1 editor pick for Socca in Nice, ranked by editorial score. All Nice signature dishes · Socca across every city.

  • Chez Pipo

    Order Socca, the chickpea flour galette, and the pissaladiere of caramelised onions on bread dough.

    Chez Pipo serves socca and Nicois specialties at 13 Rue Bavastro in Nice; locals have eaten its socca for generations, a tradition of nearly 100 years.

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Make it at home

Serves 420 minEasy

Ingredients

  • 150g chickpea flour
  • 500ml cold water
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for the plate
  • Half a teaspoon fine salt
  • Black pepper to serve

Method

  1. Whisk the cold water, chickpea flour, olive oil and salt briskly to remove every lump, then pass the batter through a sieve.
  2. Heat the oven as hot as it will go (the City of Nice recipe gives about 280C) with a large copper plate or heavy pan generously oiled inside.
  3. Pour in the batter to a depth of 2 to 3mm and bake until golden and crisp, slightly burnt in places.
  4. Cut into small pieces, add black pepper and serve straight away.

Editor tip. Serve it straight from the oven: Chez Pipo says socca loses its qualities once it has cooled.