One of the great pleasures of a roving retirement is frequently stumbling on some object, place, or turn of phrase that leads to some deeper understanding of the people and culture of a given region. I am happy to report that I had such a revelation recently about Nice.
Many Restaurants in Nice are Named Lou Something
Prior to lockdown, as I was looking for restaurants to try, I noticed many were named “Lou” something or other. I wondered whether Lou was an extremely common first name here, like “Joe”.
Last week, I asked my French teacher why the name Lou was so popular. She said, “lou” means “the” in the local language, Nissart. Oh, that ‘splains it, it’s like “le” in modern french. I had never heard of Nissart. Sounds interesting, tell me more.
The Nissart Language
Linguists estimate that there are around 75 regional languages in France. Most linguists consider Nissart to be a dialect of Occitan, a language from Provence. I read that roughly 1500 secondary school students study Nissart every year. My teacher said some people in town actively use it. There seems to be an effort to revive it.
Culture Through Food
I had a similar “duh!” moment last March when I realized that Salade Niçoise is called that because it came from Nice. It is even called Salade Niçoise here. I imagine catering to tourists forced the addition of Niçoise to the word “salad” to motivate sales. However, you don’t find French Onion Soup on the menu here, it’s just called “onion soup”.
Some Regional Food Specialties
Salade Niçoise – A salad of oil-packed tuna, hard-boiled egg, tomatoes, potatoes, green beans, olives, and anchovies over spring mix, dressed with a mustard vinaigrette. It is piquant and filling.
Pan bagnat – A sandwich where the bread (pan) is bathed (bagnat) in olive oil and the filling is a Salade Niçoise without the potatoes or beans. Alton Brown really embraces the concept here.
Socca – A crepe made with chickpea flour. It tastes a lot like cornbread and falafel had a baby.
Les Petits Farcis – Small vegetables (onion, tomato, eggplant, squash) with ground pork. The word farci means stuffed.
Pissaladiere – An onion tart with an olive and/or anchovy on top. A great pairing with some petits farcis and wine.
Daube Niçoise – Beef stew braised in red wine and brandy with mushrooms. Often served with gnocchi or beef ravioli. This dish is fabulous nearly every time.
Ratatouille – A vegetable stew originating in the area. Often served as a side dish. It can elevate even a lowly rat to culinary heights.
Which of these dishes do you want to try?
6 comments
Nice article but your pan bagnat picture is wrong, the real recipes is in a round bread looking like a burger bun, not in a baguette.
Have you tried the barbajuan and the fougasse (mainly Monaco specialties) ?
Bises Marie
While the pan bagnat originated in a round loaf, there are many places selling something they call pan bagnat as shown. I think it is similar to neapolitan pizza and, well, every other thing called pizza.
We had a wonderful veggie fougasse a couple days ago. I will look for a barbajuan around Nov 19, the national day of Monaco. 🙂
Thanks!
They all look delicious! Are you trying to make any French recipes while you are there?
I definitely want some Salade Niçoise! Glad things seem to be going well on the language and culture front, at least!
My repertoire has thus far been limited to duck breast, which you can find in every grocery store. But I think we are going to make a ratatouille. Italian food and pate (pasta) is really popular here too.
Nice article of the fresh foods of Nice! You made me hungry!!! Bob Appetite!!