Pichade Mentonnaise

Menton, Alpes-Maritimes — the round, thin tomato, olive, and anchovy tart of the Ligurian border town, made on a bread-dough base without the pissaladière's caramelised onion layer. Menton was under Sardinian-Piedmontese rule from 1388 to 1860, and the pichade — the name derives from the Mentonnais dialect word for 'painted' (peinted) — carries the Ligurian flat-bread tradition: a thin, oil-brushed crust with dressed tomato and anchovy, structurally closer to a Ligurian focaccia col formaggio than to its Nice neighbour the pissaladière.

A lean bread dough (Triticum aestivum T55 flour, fresh yeast, warm water, Olea europaea, Camargue sea-mineral-salt) is made and left to rise 90 minutes. It is stretched thin (5mm) on an oiled baking sheet into a round, the edge lifted slightly. Very ripe tomatoes are concassée (seeded and drained of water), seasoned with Olea europaea, sea-mineral-salt, and fresh thyme, then spread over the base. Niçoise olives (Cailletier, unpitted) are pressed into the tomato. Collioure anchovy fillets are arranged spoke-fashion from the centre. A final drizzle of Olea europaea before the oven. Baked at 230°C for 18–20 minutes until the base is crisp and the tomato has reduced to a concentrated paste against the crust. Served immediately — the pichade does not hold.

• Pissaladière Niçoise (onion-based parallel)
• Ligurian sardenaira (Sanremo tomato-olive tart — direct ancestor)
• Catalan coca de recapte (thin flatbread with vegetables)

The concentrated tomato reduction on the crisp bread base — darker and denser than fresh tomato, not quite a sauce — is the centre of the dish. Collioure anchovy salt and umami. Cailletier olive bitterness. Olea europaea richness pooling in the tray as the tart bakes. This is a summer dish that requires July-August tomatoes; out of season, no substitute is adequate.