The following highlights some of the popular Traditional Monégasque Foods. If you manage to be in an Monégasque restaurant or you are visiting Monaco, I recommend the following:
1. Socca
Socca is a popular street food from Nice, France; this flatbread can be adapted to include any flavour you like, from herbs to chillies and olives. But at its heart, Socca is made with chickpea flour, water and olive oil, roasted in a pan by street vendors all over Monaco. The outside is famously crispy and charred, while the inside is left creamy. Served with a fresh rose, olives, green salad and a bevy of good friends, this is a dish to share.
2. Porchetta
Porchetta is traditionally an Italian dish, made from boneless pork, stuffed with liver and local wild fennel, roasted over a wood fire with the skin on for at least eight hours, creating a melt-in-the-mouth dish to die for. Due to Monaco’s proximity to the Italian border, this dish has been adopted by the locals, traditionally served for large family celebrations such as birthdays and holidays.
3. Barbagiuan
It is Monaco’s most famous dish, often hailed as Monaco’s national dish. This crispy pastry is filled with Swiss chard and ricotta, before being rolled in the dough and fried until golden brown and crispy with the filling oozing out. This dish is so famous in Monaco that a bank holiday is celebrated every year on 19 November, when it is eaten all over the country.
4. Stocafi
The traditional Stocafi dish is dried cod cooked in rich red wine, tomato sauce with onion and garlic, before being topped with fresh black olives, creating a salty contrast with the rich, deep sauce. This fish stew is traditionally provincial in its ingredients, but has a special flavour when cooked together. Often served with fresh bread, the stew piled on top, this dish can be found in France and northern Italy. But Monaco has adopted the dish as its own, creating a humble meal to bring friends and family together.
5. Galapian
This dish originated in the Galapie commune of France by Alain Bouchard in 1994 and was soon adopted by Monaco. This unique sweet cake is traditionally made with cherries and almonds, with a light texture, thanks to the egg whites that are delicately mixed into the batter. It is best served with sweet Muscat wine, as recommended by Bouchard himself; the pairing is especially nice to enjoy on a warm day, as the Monegasques enjoy.
6. Fougasse
The French equivalent of the Italian focaccia, Fougasse is a fresh flatbread made with anything from herbs to olives, with lashings of olive oil, often topped with cheese and served alongside fresh, crisp salad and the famous Stocafi (fish stew). This bread, like focaccia, is rich and dense, creating the perfect dough to mop up the sauce of any meal.
7. Pan Bagnat
This delicious traditional Monegasque sandwich is full of flavour with a combination of olive oil, tomato juice and anchovies that dissolve and soak into the fresh, crusty bread over the course of twenty-four hours. This sandwich calls for a selection of whatever vegetables can be piled inside, from crispy aniseed fennel to sweet peppers and even, in season, wild salmon.
8. Gnocchi
Gnocchi are morsels of boiled potatoes, rolled together, boiled and delicately seasoned with a velvety butter sauce, or a light red wine and tomato sauce and local fish caught just off the coast of Monaco. This world famous dish will surprise many as a traditional Monaco meal.
9. Brandamincium
Brandamincium is to Monaco what Fish and Chips are to the UK. This salted cod is cooked in a rich cream, onion and garlic sauce served with a selection of local vegetables. The salted cod cuts through the richness of the cream sauce to create an umami sensation that will keep you wanting more. This light and tasty meal is traditionally served at Christmas, the holy week before Easter and during Lent, when families gather to celebrate.
10. U Pan de Natale
It is one of the oldest Monegasque traditions. It is a small round loaf decorated with five nuts arranged in a cross and an olive branch. It is the Pan de Natale. According to tradition, this bread has to be blessed by families during the Midnight Mass in Monaco Cathedral. On Christmas Eve, after the Midnight Mass, the Pan de Natale is placed on the table and the oldest or sometimes the youngest person in the family blesses the bread. This bread is kept and a piece is offered to each visitor as a sign of welcome.
If you found this list useful, here are some more Traditional European Foods to try out on my Pinterest channel.