Farinata

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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.

Farinata is a typical preparation of the northwest Mediterranean coast; in Liguria it is named farinata, in Nice socca and in Toulon cade.

It is also a speciality of Oran, Algeria, where it was introduced under French rule and known as calentica, and in the cities of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Montevideo, Uruguay, where it is known as fainá and eaten with pizza.

History

The origin of the dish is unknown. One legend says it was invented by a group of Roman soldiers who roasted chickpea-flour on a shield.^[1]

Names

In standard Italian, the dish is called farinata ('made of flour'), while in Ligurian, specifically in the Genoese dialect, it goes by the name of fainâ (Ligurian: [fajˈnaː]); in Massa and in Carrara it is called calda calda (lit. 'hot hot'), in Tuscany cecina ("made of chickpeas") or torta di ceci (lit. 'chickpea pie'), and in Sardinia fainé.

In Nice and the Alpes-Maritimes it is called socca, and in the Var, especially in Toulon, it is known as cade, from Occitan pascade, as it was traditionnaly served during Easter (Pascas in Occitan).^[2]

In Argentina and Uruguay it is massively popular and is called fainá.

Cooking method

Farinata is made by stirring chickpea flour into a mixture of water and olive oil to form a loose batter,^[3] pouring it into a pan to make a pancake typically 4 mm thick, and cooking it for a few minutes, traditionally in an open oven in a tin-plated copper baking-pan. It may be seasoned with fresh rosemary, pepper and sea salt. Traditionally farinata is cut into irregularly shaped triangular slices, and eaten (with no toppings) on small plates with optional black pepper. Elsewhere in Italy – traditionally in Tuscany, where it is called cecina (from the Italian word for 'chickpea', ceci) – it is served stuffed into small focaccia (mainly in Pisa) or between two slices of bread, as it is traditional in Livorno. It is sold in pizzerias and bakeries.

Italian variations

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French variations

• Socca [fr] is also a specialty of southeastern French cuisine, particularly in and around the city of Nice,^[4]
  and is practically the same as farinata, some say the texture is a bit different. It may be baked on a tinned copper plate more than a meter in diameter.
• Around Toulon and Marseille, it is also possible to find it under the name cade. This version is thicker with a crunchy surface.
• Panisse is a specialty of Marseille, and is a similar dish, but thicker, and is typically cut into circles and fried.

Elsewhere

In Algeria, karantika is a similar dish which is very popular. It is served hot and dressed with cumin and harissa.^[5]

In Argentina and Uruguay (where many thousands of Ligurian people emigrated between the 19th and the 20th centuries) farinata is known as fainá, similar to the original Genoese name fainâ. It is often eaten on top of pizza (a caballo).^[6]

In Uruguay, el fainá (called la fainá in Argentina) is considered a traditional Uruguayan dish, brought by immigrants in 1915, so much so that 27 August has been called "Fainá Day". Fainá is optionally served de orillo or del medio, which means from the border and from the center, because slightly irregular baking is made from to the meniscus of the liquid dough, making it thicker at the center, resulting different textures, more creamy or more crispy akin to the choice.^[7]

In Gibraltar, it is known as calentita when it is baked or panissa when it is fried. They are typically eaten plain, without any toppings. These are considered to be Gibraltar's national dishes.^[8]

See also

• Cuisine of Liguria
• List of pancakes
• Argentine pizza

References