Pan Bagnat

Pan Bagnat

A good sandwich starts with good bread...

... like these (which I had made before I decided to make pan bagnat; had I made the bread with that end in mind, I would have made the little loaves flatter and broader)...

For pan bagnat, the filling is largely what goes into a proper salade niçoise, namely, tuna, hard boiled eggs, peppers, tomato, onion, black olives, parsley, basil... I add a little anchovy and on this occasion the peppers were roasted peppers I had made a couple of days before (dressed with olive oil, vinagre, garlic and parsley); raw peppers sliced or chopped are traditional but I find roasted peppers more digestible... Radishes are nice here too but I happened not to have any on hand...

Rub the bread with a garlic clove and find a way to fit everything in there... be sure to dress it all with olive oil...

... then wrap it up and let it rest for an hour or more, so that the flavours have a chance to come together...

... The presence of the peppers in my fridge was part of what inspired the making of this summery dish in the middle of winter... and I was lucky to have a very nice tomato on hand; had it not been a good one, I probably would have made something else.

A really satisfying sandwich...

Bon Prô,
Antonius

Links to other recipes and cooking notes by this writer: viewtopic.php?p=55649#55649

Now I'm hungry. And I just ate...

Mhays wrote:Now I'm hungry. And I just ate...

Sorry about that but thanks!

A

Tony,

That is an excellent looking sandwich. You are bringing back memories of the Pan Bagnat the Louisa Chu brought to the LTH Picnic last summer. Those are fine memories to have on a cold January afternoon.

Pan Bagnat @ LTh Picnic 2009

Steve,

Indeed, a very fine looking pan bagnat there by Louisa...

We missed the picnic but round about that very same time in late summer, we also got to eat pan bagnat...

... in its home-town of Nice...



A

...drooling...

Issu este unu cantu de pane.

Antonius wrote:Steve,

Indeed, a very fine looking pan bagnat there by Louisa...

We missed the picnic but round about that very same time in late summer, we also got to eat pan bagnat...

... in its home-town of Nice...



A

Ah, for some summer tomatoes right about now...

Oh, Antonius, the photo and so accurate description of your Pan Bagnat provoked such an outburst of nostalgia that they almost made me cry... Even the round bread looked perfect .
The only thing that did not fit my memory of that sandwich (I hate hundreds of them in my student years at the University of Aix-en-Provence) was the basil. You would not find a single leaf of basil in those I bought in street kiosks or in bakeries. But in the bakeries of Nice you would.
Anyway, I would like to mention a few details about the origins and the name of that sandwich that in "Nissard" the old Occitan language of the Nice area, means ''pain mouillé'' that you can translate by '' soaked (or wet) bread''. In some Italian regions you find an equivalent with the '' Pane bagnato''. The wetness came of course from the olive oil that was liberally doused on the bread, but also from a little red wine vinegar.
In fact that sandwich whose recipe you will never find in any ''bible'' of Provençal cuisine such as the Reboul, was a
'' casse-croûte'' that poor fishermen and daily laborers took with them in the morning on their way to work.
Originally, from the 18th century until the 1930's, the fish component was, as you rightly indicated, filets d'anchois (anchovies). But after WW II the use of canned tuna, that was no longer an expensive fish, progressively replaced the anchovy.
Nowadays, with the depressing state of what fast food for the tourist trade, even in real ''sandwicheries'', has become, when you buy Pan Bagnat from street vendors and supermarket bakery departments in Paris or even Marseille, you most likely will be disapointed by both the quality of the ingredients which can be anything on hand in the fridge and not necessarily fresh vegetable or even olive oil, and the bread that will be a cheap chewy industrial kind.
I believe that in the old district of Nice you still find the right think.

Alain -

I'm really delighted to hear you enjoyed my post and pictures and that they stirred up some fond memories!

As you say, in Nice they do include basil on the pan bagnat and in fact, you can see some, I believe, sticking out from under the bread in the sandwich which I photographed in Nice this past summer, shown a few posts up-thread. And indeed, it is partly out of an appreciation for the history of the sandwich (as well as my considerable love of the little fish) that I include a few filets d'anchois along with the tuna. It adds a little burst of saltiness and fishiness in some bites that I just love.

I didn't add vinegar directly to the sandwich but that was on account of the fact that I was using my home-prepared roasted peppers which had marinated in vinegar, rather than the more usual chopped or sliced raw bell peppers. So the vinegar element was already present.

Good bread and good oil... and lots of the oil... it's such a simple dish and yet so thoroughly delicious...*

A

* Speaking of Aix and of olive oil, a number of years back - in the mid 90's - I was there at the time of the Festo de l'oli de z-Ais... That brings back some fond memories for me!... What a wonderful city... (and what fine olive oil!)... It must have been great to be a student there...

Antonius,

Yes in the very early 60's it was a lot of fun to be a student in Aix-en-Provence but it was quite difficult to be a serious student. I have to say that I spent almost more time eating Provençal food and drink regional wines than studying Kant, Hegel and Descartes, which is what I was there for.
By the way where did you found the plates that appear in both your recent piece on pasta with olive oil and garlic and your post on Pan Bagnat. They look a bit like some I've seen recently at Dominick's, made in China of course, but with the same olive theme and in the same colors.
I have been desperately looking for Italian-style individual pasta bowls nicely decorated with traditional Italian motives but not made in China, and had to give up.
Perhaps you have a suggestion?
Thanks

alain40 wrote:I have been desperately looking for Italian-style individual pasta bowls nicely decorated with traditional Italian motives but not made in China, and had to give up.
Perhaps you have a suggestion?
Thanks

Have you seen these? Pricey, but pretty, and made in France.

Hi Alain,

I can answer the question about our plates and bowls. They are from Crate and Barrel, and made in Italy:
http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.as ... 76&f=32101

Amata

http://www.worldmarket.com/product/inde ... Id=3617427

They usually have dinnerware not from China in there. Patterns are changing all the time. Pier1 also has stuff not from china. Crate and Barrel has plates too.