The pan bagnat (pronounced ɑ̃ baˈɲa (pan bagna, and alternatively in French as pain bagnat) is a

sandwich A sandwich is a food typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or between slices of bread, or more generally any dish wherein bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type. The sandwich began as a po ...

that is a specialty of

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. The sandwich is composed of

pain de campagne Pain de campagne ("country bread" in French), also called "French sourdough", is typically a large round loaf ("miche") made from either natural leavening or baker's yeast. Most traditional versions of this bread are made with a combination of w ...

, a whole wheat bread, enclosing the classic salade niçoise, a salad composed mainly of raw

vegetable Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the flowers, fruits, stems, ...

hard boiled egg Boiled eggs are eggs, typically from a chicken, cooked with their shells unbroken, usually by immersion in boiling water. Hard-boiled eggs are cooked so that the egg white and egg yolk both solidify, while soft-boiled eggs may leave the yolk, ...

anchovies An anchovy is a small, common forage fish of the family Engraulidae. Most species are found in marine waters, but several will enter brackish water, and some in South America are restricted to fresh water. More than 140 species are placed in 1 ...

and/or

tuna A tuna is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae ( mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bullet tuna (max len ...

, and olive oil, salt, and pepper. Sometimes vinegar might be added, but never mayonnaise. It has historically been prepared as a use for day-old bread. The pan bagnat is a popular dish in the region around Nice where it is sold in most bakeries and markets. Pan bagnat and the salade niçoise (salade nissarda), along with

ratatouille Ratatouille ( , ), oc, ratatolha , is a French Provençal dish of stewed vegetables which originated in Nice, and is sometimes referred to as ''ratatouille niçoise'' (). Recipes and cooking times differ widely, but common ingredients include ...

(La Ratatouia Nissarda in Provençal),

socca Farinata (), socca (), torta di ceci (), or cecina () is a type of thin, unleavened pancake or crêpe made from chickpea flour. It originated in Italy and later became a typical food of the Ligurian Sea coast, from Nice to Sardinia and Elba isl ...

and

pissaladière Pissaladière (, , ; oc, label= Niçard, pissaladiera or ; lij, piscialandrea ) is a dish of flatbread with toppings in the cuisines of Liguria (especially Genoa) and Nice. It is often compared to pizza. The dough is usually a bread dough thic ...

are strongly linked to the city of

, where they have been developed over time out of local ingredients. It is sometimes served as an hors d'oeuvre.

Etymology

The name of the sandwich comes from the local

Provençal language Provençal may refer to: *Of Provence, a region of France * Provençal dialect, a dialect of the Occitan language, spoken in the southeast of France *''Provençal'', meaning the whole Occitan language *Franco-Provençal language, a distinct Roman ...

, Nissart, in which pan banhat and the alternative spelling pan bagnat mean "bathed bread". It is often misspelled "pain bagnat", with the French ''pain'' rather than genuine local ''pan''.

Preparation

Pan bagnat is prepared using bread or homemade bread that is generally round ( French: ''pain de ménage'') optionally rubbed with garlic, tuna, anchovies, sliced tomato, olives, olive oil, salt and pepper. Additional ingredients to prepare the dish can include arugula, basil, artichoke, and red wine vinegar. The olive oil is typically used on the bread, which may be

marinated Marinating is the process of soaking foods in a seasoned, often acidic, liquid before cooking. The origin of the word alludes to the use of brine (''aqua marina'' or sea water) in the pickling process, which led to the technique of adding flavor b ...

or soaked in the oil and then strained off, hence the name "bathed bread". The garlic is sometimes used to rub the bread with. File:Pain 001.JPG, Breads of pan bagnat File:Pan-bagnat 1.jpg, Pan bagnat Pans bagnats perso.jpg, Two pan bagnat.

Similar dishes

Pan bagnat is partly related to the

muffuletta The muffuletta or muffaletta is both a type of round Sicilian sesame bread and a popular sandwich that originated among Italian immigrants in New Orleans, Louisiana, using the same bread. History The muffuletta bread has origins in Sicily. T ...

sandwich. and is a close relative of the Tunisian Tuna Sandwich (Casse-Croûte Tunisien).

Notes

References

External links