A recent trip to Nice got me back in the socca mood. This savory warm crepe from the streets of this vibrant city are seductive and addictive. I could eat them every day, for their almost smokey flavor is haunting, and each bite just seems like a healthy vitamin pill from the sunny south. These golden brown chick pea flour crepes -- known as farinata in Liguria and socca in Nice -- are a delightful  accompaniment to any salad, with a glass of wine any time of year. The batter can be made several hours ahead, with the crepes baked at the very last moment. They are served still warm from the oven, seasoned generously with coarsely ground black pepper, then torn into raggedly shards and eaten out of hand. But this is also the sort of seemingly simple preparation that can be outrageously frustrating to get “just right.” The batter should contain oil, but the end result should not be oily. Once baked, the crepe should be just thick enough to fold into moist, torn portions, not dry handkerchiefs. The oven should be hot, but not so hot that  the socca cooks and browns unevenly. While most recipes contain a one-to- one ratio of flour to water, a friendly clerk at the Maison Barale pasta shop in Nice – where they sell a delicious chick pea flour --   advised me that one-third flour to two-thirds water was a better ratio, making for a lighter, crepe. She was right! I bake mine in a specially designed tin-lined copper socca pan, much like a flat paella pan, but any large, round, flat pan that fits in the oven is fine. I find that baking the pan for 5 minutes with just oil helps the bottom cook and brown evenly.  

Equipment: A 14-inch (36 cm) round ovenproof socca pan or paella pan

 2/3 cup (100 g) chick pea flour

1 1/3 cups (330 ml) water

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Coarse, freshly ground black pepper

1. Center a rack in the oven. Preheat the oven to 450 ° F (230 ° C).

1. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, water, salt, and 2 tablespoons of oil. The batter should be thin and crepe-like.

1. Pour the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil into the pan and brush to evenly distribute the oil. Place the oiled pan in the oven and heat for 5 minutes.

1. Remove the pan from the oven.  Pour the batter into the pan, swirling to evenly distribute the batter. Return the pan to the oven and bake until the socca is bubbly, colored a deep golden brown and evenly dotted with little crater-like holes, about 18 minutes. Remove from the oven, and sprinkle generously with the pepper. Use a metal scraper to scrape the crepe into raggedly shards.  Serve warm.   

One 14-inch (36 cm) crepe, about 8 servings