Socca

Socca is a specialty of southeastern French cuisine, particularly in and around the city of Nice

Nice

Nice is a city in southern France located on the Mediterranean coast, between Marseille, France, and Genoa, Italy, with 347 060 inhabitants in the 2006 estimate...

. Its primary ingredients are chickpea

Chickpea

The chickpea is an edible legume of the family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. Chickpeas are high in protein and one of the earliest cultivated vegetables...

 flour and olive oil

Olive oil

Olive oil is a fruit oil obtained from the olive , a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin. The wild olive tree originated in Asia Minor and spread from there as far as southern Africa, Australia, Japan and China. It is commonly used in cooking, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and soaps and...

, like the northern Italian farinata

Farinata

Farinata is a thin, crisp, pizza-like pancake from Liguria, Italy. Variations are eaten in many different Mediterranean countries and beyond...

. After being formed into a flat cake and baked in an oven, often on a cast iron

Cast iron

Cast iron usually refers to grey iron, but also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys, which solidify with a eutectic. The colour of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due to its carbide impurities which...

 pan more than a meter in diameter, the socca is seasoned generously with black pepper

Black pepper

Black pepper is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit, known as a peppercorn when dried, is a small drupe approximately five millimetres in diameter, dark red when fully mature, containing a single...

 and eaten while hot with the fingers. Socca is considered by some to be a chickpea crepe

Crêpe

A crêpe is a type of very thin pancake . The word is of French origin, deriving from the Latin crispa, meaning "curled." While crêpes originate from Brittany, a region in the northwest of France, their consumption is nowadays widespread in France and they are considered a national dish. In...

, as the preparation and consistency of the batter is similar.

Many brasserie

Brasserie

In France and the francophone world, a brasserie is a type of restaurant with a relaxed, upscale setting, which serves single dishes and other meals. The word 'brasserie' is also French for brewery and, by extension, "the brewing business". A brasserie can be expected to have professional service...

s in Nice, especially (but not exclusively) in the old section (Vieux Nice) near the waterfront, sell a filling portion of socca for €

Euro

The euro is the official currency of 16 of the 27 Member States of the European Union . The states, known collectively as the Eurozone, are Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain...

2-3.