Saturday, March 26, 2011

Farinata

This savory pancake made from chickpea flour is possibly the most delicious thing I've ever cooked.  It is popular along the Ligurian sea coast in Italy (where it is known as farinata) and France (where it's known as socca) as well as in Argentina and Uruguay (where it is known as faina).  I've only eaten it in Argentina, where moderately thick slices of faina are served atop deep-dish pizza -- an unusual but satisfying combination.

I followed this recipe, but used a bigger pan.  This resulted in a very thin pancake.  I used this chickpea flour, which I bought online.  Speaking from experience: do not use besan (Indian chickpea flour), because it's not the same as Italian farina di ceci.  I'm fairly sure that besan is made from "black chickpeas" (a.k.a. bengal gram or kala chana), whereas farina di ceci is made from "white chickpeas" (a.k.a. garbanzos).

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