Socca from Vieux Nice #French Fridays with Dorie

I was 14 years old when I went to Nice with my oldest sister. My clearest memory of the place was not of eating Socca, food was not in our travel budget,... it was of struggling with my bathing suit top. A French boy kept saying something to me that I didn't understand. My sister finally translated.

"He says why bother?"

"Because I don't want tan lines."

"But you don't have to wear a top here."

I was horrified by the thought of not wearing a top, and yes, at that moment I realized; I was a prudish American.

I have other memories of Nice. The beach is made of pebbles not sand. It was really cool to look at, but very uncomfortable to lay on... and there is a town square. At night my sister and I danced to local French and African bands. Such a beautiful place...

Oh yes, Socca... well my socca's batter looked to thin to me, so I added more, and more, chickpea flour to it. I poured it into a cast iron skillet, because I don't have a pizza pan which Dorie recommended to use. Well, I guess I put too much batter in the pan and the socca came out like cornbread.

I can't tell you how disappointed my cornbread loving family was when they learned that they were not having cornbread but chickpea floured socca for dinner. They deemed the flavor OK, but the texture.. no go. I agreed it should have been thin. I found the taste simple, but genuinely appealing. The addition of rosemary was a wonderful accent flavor that complemented the spicy sausage and escarole that I sautéed up to serve with this bread.

Click here for a skillet Socca Recipe

Note: As a member of French Friday's with Dorie I am not allowed to print the recipe. I invite you to take a look at this wonderful cookbook "Around My French Table" if you are interested in this or any other recipe I review.