A COUPLE of weeks ago, if you remember, we set course for the South of France and discovered the delights of the Pan Bagnat, the squashed tuna salad sandwich that should now, of course, be a firm family favourite!
If you’ve not tried that one yet, I urge you to do so! It seems a pity to hurry home so quickly, so let’s hang around the Med for a while longer and have a go at another classic from the region, the oddly-named Pissaladière.
A combination of crisp, pizza-dough base and a topping of sweet, soft caramelised onion, salty anchovies and dusky black olives, it’s a wonderful snack, best enjoyed outdoors in the sunshine with a glass of rosé in hand.
It’s enjoyed all along the Côte d’Azur and across the border into the Italian province of Liguria and yet, curiously, it has travelled less far than its tomato-slathered cousin, the pizza.
I guarantee that once you try a slice, you’ll be just as confused by this as I am, because it’s so very delicious; deeply, lip-smackingly savoury, crunchy yet melting and, when baked fresh, with slowly-cooked onion and fresh thyme from the garden, all lifted by the piquancy of the olives and anchovies.
Whether eaten as a slice on the hoof, or with salad at lunchtime, or even cut into delicate squares for party nibbling, it’s a perfect example of exquisite simplicity.
An ancient dish, thought to have been brought to the region by the Romans during the time when the Pope reigned in Avignon before moving house to the Vatican, it’s current name derives from the old Occitan ‘peis salat’, meaning salted fish.
The Romans were great fans of the salted fish, and many of their recipes called for the hefty use of anchovies and suchlike. Here, they release their sweet, unctuous oils into a thick bed of onions, slow-cooked for an hour or so in tasty olive oil, lifted with a handful of chopped fresh thyme leaves, along with a few musky black olives to remind you of the dishes origins, all heaped onto a base of crisp-baked pizza dough. So, let’s get going.
The pizza dough is probably one of the easiest to make, yet yields incredible results – the taste of the fresh yeast is unmistakeable, and adds to the assault on the senses with its scent, flavour and the texture of the crunch combined with the soft onion.
You’ll have to sniff out some fresh yeast, but it’s definitely worth it, and your local supermarket’s bakery section should be able to help.
And you’ll have some yeast left to make bread with, which is always good for entertaining the kids on a wet day. It’ll keep for a few weeks, well-wrapped.
The key to a good pissaladière is the sweet, soft onions. They must be allowed to bubble softly, under cover, for at least three quarters of an hour, to eliminate the acids that can cause indigestion, and for the sugars to caramelise gently, bringing out the full, savoury glory.