What is farinata?
Farinata, with its golden, crispy surface and softer underside, is considered one of the most popular street foods in Liguria. A savoury pie made with simple ingredients such as chickpeas, extra virgin olive oil, salt and water that make it suitable for all palates: coeliacs, vegans and vegetarians. Anyone coming to Genoa cannot fail to taste it and fall in love with it, especially if it has just been baked!
If you feel like bringing this delicacy to the table, which will win you over with its crunchiness and natural flavour, accompanying it with tasty sauces and condiments, we leave you with the recipe for Farinata with Portulaca by Cesarina Beatrice from Milan.
What is purslane?
Purslane is a wild herb, which grows in abundance in gardens and fields during the summer season, rich in valuable elements that give it excellent nutritional properties such as minerals and vitamins.
Types of farinate
There are many variations of farinate throughout Liguria: different ingredients such as rosemary, borage and artichokes can be added to the basic dough. It is cooked in a pan in a wood-burning oven and can be eaten in the "sciamadde", typical bars in the city centre specialising in fried and baked products. Called "fainâ de çeixi" in Genoa, in the past it was traditionally eaten during the Feast of All Saints and on New Year's Day, cooked exclusively in wood-fired ovens. In Pisa it is instead called "cecina", just as in the Savona area it is called "turtellassu" and in the Livorno area it is known as "chehckpea pie".
Where does farinata come from?
Farinata is a dish with ancient origins, dating back some two thousand years ago during the Middle Ages, imported by the Maritime Republic of Genoa thanks to trade contacts with the Arab world where chickpeas were a predominant food on their tables, and the origin of its birth is divided between history and legend.
Since wheat flour was a luxury, the story goes that soldiers prepared this rudimentary pizza with a dough of chickpea flour and water and then baked it in the sun using their shields as natural ovens.
Legend has it that it was born in 1284. During a terrible storm, the Genoese ships returning from the Battle of Meloria against Pisa spilled sacks of chickpeas and barrels of oil. The chickpeas and oil thus mixed with the sea water that had collected from the ship due to the bad weather, and the sailors were forced to eat that unusual mixture: they left everything to dry in the sun and then formed a kind of ‘fritters’ baked in the oven on a copper baking tray. Thus was born one of the most beloved dishes of Ligurian cuisine.
Anchored in tradition, farinata has retained its charm, so much so that it bewitched 19th century English and American travellers passing through Liguria, such as the writer Charles Dickens.
Cesarine experiences in Liguria!
Treat yourself to an unforgettable experience in the home of one of our Cesarine! We have many cooking classes and food and wine tours ready for you to discover the secrets of traditional dishes!
