Ruth Rogers, a founder of the famed River Cafe in London, brought cash to a parking lot in Pisa, Italy, to meet a vendor she had connected with through a Ligurian acquaintance.
It wasn’t an illicit deal; she was merely seeking a replacement for the frying pans she’d been using to make farinata, a crisp-creamy pancake made from just chickpea flour, olive oil, water and salt.
Nearly a decade later, that specialty pan made from dimpled copper and tin, and meant specifically for farinata, remains in rotation at the River Cafe, where it is used to turn out the savory chickpea dish almost daily.
Farinata has a long history as a street food in a corner of the Mediterranean coast stretching from Liguria to the French Riviera, and its preparation varies little despite the different names by which it goes: belecauda, or “nice and hot,” as it should be served, in Piedmont; socca in Nice; cade in Toulon; cecina; fainá; and fainè.
Persons:
Ruth Rogers, Farinata, cade
Locations:
London, Pisa, Italy, Liguria, Piedmont, socca, Nice, Toulon