Socca Recipe: The French Appetizer from the Riviera (2024)

FAQs

What is socca from Nice? ›

If you're not familiar with socca, it's a savory chickpea pancake with crisp, golden brown edges and a moist interior. It's popular throughout southern France and northern Italy, and once you try it, you'll see why.

Socca is also known by the names of fainá or farinata (coming from Argentina and Italy, respectively), but they are all essentially the same recipe using chickpea flour, olive oil, and water — and all have a crispy, nutty flavor.

An hors d'oeuvre (/ɔːr ˈdɜːrv(rə)/ or DURV(-rə); French: hors-d'œuvre [ɔʁ dœvʁ]), appetiser or starter is a small dish served before a meal in European cuisine.

myz. ɡœl]) is a single, bite-sized hors d'œuvre. Amuse-bouches are different from appetizers in that they are not ordered from a menu by patrons but are served free and according to the chef's selection alone. These are served both to prepare the guest for the meal and to offer a glimpse of the chef's style.

Bread and cheese are staples in a French diet and after you've tasted authentic, French bread and French cheese you'll wonder why they don't just eat it all the time. Unlike baguettes that you might find at home, a real French baguette is crispy and firm with a wispy, fluffy inside.

socca (uncountable) A French dish popular in Nice; a kind of chickpea pancake seasoned and eaten hot.

Farinata (Italian: [fariˈnaːta]), farinata di ceci, torta di ceci, fainé, fainá, socca, cecìna or cade is a type of thin, unleavened pancake or crêpe made from chickpea flour.

The Society of Critical Care Anesthesiologists (SOCCA) is the sole organization dedicated to the continuation of the role of anesthesiologists in providing critical care services.

Socca, a specialty of Nice, France, is a thin pancake made from chickpeas with a crispy exterior and a soft, creamy interior. Its origins lie in Genoa, Italy, where it's typically called farinata.

The difference between socca and panisse is in the cooking method. "They're really quite different," says Rosa Jackson, a Canadian expat, food writer, and owner of Les Petit* Farcis, a cooking studio in the Old Town of Nice. "Socca is baked in the oven, and panisse is cooked first in a saucepan then fried."

What country is socca from? ›

Socca is the ubiquitous street food found all over southeastern France, most notably in Nice and more specifically around the Cours Saleya market.

WHEN TO EAT CHEESE IN FRANCE. Cheese is not an appetizer here. In France, the traditional time to eat cheese during a meal is after the main dish and before dessert. Yes, it gets it's own course, though you can eat it in lieu of dessert also if you wish.

French Starters Traditional Bites

From simple dishes like Tomato and Basil Tarte Tatin and French Onion Soup to more sophisticated fare like Blue cheese souffle with fresh figs and honey, these French starter recipes are sure to impress your guests.

amuse-bouche • \AH-mooz-BOOSH\ • noun. : a small complimentary appetizer offered at some restaurants.

Pastries

Crêpes are a common product here. They are especially popular as an afternoon snack and come with many different varieties such as Nutella, fruit jam, sugar, Chantilly, and so on. There are also many other options for pastries such as éclairs, madeleines, macarons, millefeuille, and much more.

Le goûter, sometimes called “quatre heures” (four o'clock) is a snack that French children—and some adolescents and adults—eat at the end of the afternoon. During the Renaissance, this meal was called le reciner, a word that can be found in Denis Diderot's 18th-century Encyclopédie raisonné.