A cuisine of its own
Nice belonged to the House of Savoy for centuries and only became part of France in 1860, so its cooking owes as much to Liguria and Piedmont as it does to Provence. Niçois cuisine is simple and sunny, built on olive oil, vegetables, herbs, chickpeas, anchovies and fresh fish. It is a cuisine of street food and family recipes, and the city is proud of it.
A local label recognises restaurants that cook traditional Niçois dishes with fresh ingredients, which can help you find authentic places.
Street food: socca and friends
Socca is a thin, crisp pancake made from chickpea flour, water and olive oil, cooked in a large copper pan in a wood-fired oven, then cut into rough pieces and sprinkled generously with black pepper. Eat it hot, with your fingers, with a glass of chilled rosé. The old town and the market areas are the best places to find it.
Pissaladière is an onion tart, cooked until sweet and soft, topped with anchovies and black olives. Pan bagnat, literally bathed bread, is a round roll filled with the ingredients of a niçoise salad and soaked in olive oil, a perfect beach lunch. Look out too for beignets of courgette flowers in season.
The salad debate
The salade niçoise served across the world is often far from the local original. Traditionalists insist it contains raw vegetables: tomatoes, peppers, small artichokes, radishes and spring onions, with hard-boiled eggs, anchovies or tuna, olives and olive oil. Cooked potatoes and green beans are, for purists, a heresy, though many restaurants include them.
Other classics include petits farcis, vegetables stuffed with meat and herbs, daube, a slow-cooked beef stew, and ravioli in the Niçois style. Ratatouille, the stewed vegetable dish known around the world, also has strong local roots.
Drinks and sweets
Rosé from Provence is the local drink of summer, but look out also for Bellet, a small wine appellation in the hills above Nice itself, with whites, reds and rosés that are rarely found outside the region. Pastis, an anise spirit diluted with water, is the classic aperitif.
For something sweet, the tourte de blettes is a surprising pie of Swiss chard, raisins and pine nuts, served as a dessert. Candied fruit and chocolates from the old town make good gifts to take home.
Good to know
- Socca is best eaten straight from the oven, so buy it fresh rather than reheated.
- Lunch menus are usually better value than dinner in Nice's restaurants.
- Remember that bottles of wine or olive oil over 100 ml usually need to travel in a checked bag.