Pissaladière
The pissaladière is one of the oldest culinary specialties of the Nice’s region (South East of France). The "pissaladièra", as it is called in old Nice patois, is essentially made with local products. As it is eaten today, it consists of bread dough, onions, olives, anchovies and olive oil.
The history of the pissaladière is due to the "pissalat", a mashed salted fish, which has also given its name to the specialty. This puree is made from poutine, a kind of sardine and anchovy fry. The origin of the pissalat dates back to the 1st century AD.
The pissaladière could be a legacy of a Genoese recipe, from Imperia (Italy), at the end of the 15th century. The "piscialandrea", the first version of the Italian pizza, is named after Andrea Doria, a great general and Italian sailor of the 14th and 15th century. Unlike the pissaladière, it includes tomatoes and garlic. The recipe is then passed on from generation to generation in Nice families.
The first written traces of the pissaladière date from the 19th century, under the name of "pissalat à la niçoise". The dough, before being baked, was brushed with this puree of fish. Although true lovers remain faithful to the tradition of pissalat, many have replaced it with cream or anchovy fillets because it is difficult to get them.
Ingredients (Serve 6)
- bread dough (500g high grade flour, 6 pinches salt, 2 tsp of yeast, 10 Tbsp of olive oil, 16 to 20 Tbsp of cold water)
- 1kg of onions
- 250g of anchovies in oil
- 15 black olives
- 1 tablespoon of white/caster sugar
- pepper
- olive oil
- mixed herbs
Directions
Bread dough
- Pour the flour into a bowl.
- Dig a fountain and place salt, yeast, olive oil and cold water.
- Stir first with the fingers and knead until the dough is homogeneous, smooth and elastic.
- Put it in a ball.
- Cover the bowl with a cloth and allow the dough to swell for 30 minutes at room temperature.
Garnish
- Heat 5 tablespoons of olive oil in a pan. Meanwhile, slice the onions.
- Once the oil is hot, add the sliced onions, the pepper, the tablespoon of sugar and mixed herbs. Sugar helps to reduce the acidity of onions. You do not need to add salt, anchovies are already salty enough.
- Fry the onions until they become slightly yellow.
- Preheat the oven to 220 ° C.
- After putting some anchovy fillets aside, put the rest in the pan. The anchovies will melt and mix with the onions.
- Spread the dough on an oven tray oiled with olive oil.
- Pour your mixture on the dough, then add some anchovies and olives to decorate.
- Put the pissaladière in the oven about 20 minutes. Be sure to take out the dish when the dough is cooked.
- Let the pissaladière cool down. Taste it lukewarm or cold.