Queue français in a Sanary-sur-Mer boulangerie to purchase, perhaps, a baguette, Pan Bagnat or Slice of Pissaladière. September 2011
My first taste of Pissaladière, a carmelized onion and anchovy tart, was 15 years ago at the Aspen home of my friend, Sistie. Sistie’s dinner invitations are treasured because she is a terrific chef, a made-from-scratch cook. Her appetizer that Winter evening was this tart, a concoction that requires time, patience and effort (a yeast dough and long caramelizing process).
When she lifted the baking sheet to place the tart on a platter, the sheet tipped and the tart hit the floor. Besides being a talented chef, Sistie is a fastidious housekeeper. So, another guest, Renée, just scooped up the now-disheveled Pissaladière and plopped it on the platter. It was delicious. We enjoyed it all-the-more because of its circuitous “oven-floor-table-mouth” journey.
The Real Deal – a classic Pissaladière. Photo by Georges Vernon and Margaret Skinner
Pissaladière is a treasured Provençal staple and is sold, by the slice, in every boulangerie in the South of France. Because of it’s name, I think of it as the “Frenchman’s Pizza”. However, its’ name actually derives from the anchovy paste, pissala, that is mixed into the sweet-tasting onion mixture to take it’s flavor ‘up a notch’.
My Version, without the decorative crosshatched-patterned anchovies
This is not a recipe for the faint-of-heart. As I said, making Pissaladière is an involved challenge but can be made-ahead, in parts, and thrown together later. Do not substitute puff pastry for the dough.
This week, I made this classic French tart, along with a salad and glass of wine, as a light dinner, and served it to my friend (and, good sport), Bill. Although I put anchovies into the onion mixture, I didn’t add the anchovy decorative crosshatch topping, suspecting it might be anchovy-overload for him. Trying to be positive, he remarked five times throughout the dinner how “delicious” the crust was, “just perfect”, he said.
Pissaladière is an “acquired” taste, I believe. Although he is French, he clearly, at this point-in-time, hasn’t reached the “acquired” stage! This is a classic French recipe that every wannabe amateur baker should try and Dorie simplifies this recipe better than any other I’ve seen.
Bonne Chance
Along with a green salad, a lovely light dinner
To finish the meal, a perfect autumn dessert, rustic apple tart.
Your pissaladiere turned out fantastic! I love that rustic apple tart as well.
I think I have gone crazy with my cooking lately because I didn’t think this was time consuming at all! lol. It is delicious for sure.
Your trip sounds wonderful! Loved your post. What a great story. And your apple tart looks pretty wonderful too!
your tart looks great! I dont think this is too much of an acquired taste item, so long as you like the onions…. then you can leave out the anchovies but it seems like most people liked it.
Wow – thanks for sharing the photos of the actual Pissaladiere. Everything looks really delicious! Happy French Friday!
Beautiful!!!!! Loved the story too. I am insisting my sister , who’s the chef in the family, make this for me:)))
Oh, why is it always during a dinner party that food ends up on the floor? At least the dish was salvageable! Your pissaladière turned out well. I absolutely love the apple tart, too.
The crust in your pissaladière looks fantastic! I wish mine had turned out that way.
Sounds like you have been busy!
The rustic tart looks perfect for a fall afternoon.
Your “double tart” meal looks delicious. Alas, I used puff pastry, but I wish I’d had time for the yeasted dough. I’ll try that next time, since there will definitely be a next time.
your pissaladiere looks good, especially the crust, but that apple tart looks great!
Your dough looks so crusty an delicious! Thanks for sharing your story behind this recipe, and like everyone else here, I’m completely overtaken by that rustic apple tart :-).
Mine turned into a hot mess. Done right, I still am sure I’d like this. Nothing went right for me, though. Yours looks great, and I want to stick my face in that apple tart. 🙂
Well I used the puff pastry and while I agree that it is probably better with a chewier dough I wouldn’t let it get in the way of enjoyment of these great flavors. At least mine didn’t go on the floor! I love that story.
Love ALL of the photos on this post as well as finding out you just came back from Europe. Nana and I were there a few weeks back and visited France for 2 weeks. I am still playing catch up at home ( OK the following week’s anniversary trip to San Fran and then coming home to a cold did not help either 🙂 and looking forward to a winter of enjoying Dorie adventures each Friday. Great post and great results !!! And now I want that apple tart…