Argentine · bread

Fainá

Fainá reads herbaceous 5.3, richness 3.8 and salinity 3.6 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Argentine bread, about 4 hr 31 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

• Umami & Savory — 3.9 / 10
• Sweet & Fruity — 2.3 / 10
• Sour & Bright — 1.2 / 10
• Bitter & Earthy — 2.7 / 10
• Rich & Fat — 4.7 / 10
• Aromatic & Spice — 5.8 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Herbaceous 5.3 · Richness 3.8 · Salinity 3.6 · Nutty 3.0 · Warm Spice 2.7 · Earthy 2.4 · Umami 2.4 · Floral 2.3 · Bitterness 2.0 · Fruity 1.9 · Sweetness 1.5 · Heat 1.2 · Citrus 1.2

What's in it (8)

• chickpea flour — 250 g
• water — 750 g
• extra-virgin olive oil — 82 g
• salt — 7 g
• freshly ground black pepper — 5 g
• rosemary leaf — 4 g
• grated hard cheese — 14 g
• ground white pepper — 1 g

Time & effort: about 4 hr 31 min (31 min active) · effort: medium

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 95.6 kcal, 5.5 g protein, 1.7 g fat, 14.5 g carbs

Dietary: Vegetarian · Contains dairy — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (7 steps)

1. In a Buenos Aires pizzería you order a slice of pizza and a slice of fainá and eat them stacked, one on the other, which is called a caballo — on horseback. It is a chickpea flatbread, the direct descendant of Genoese farinata, and it is the only thing on the menu older than the pizza it rides.
2. Whisk the chickpea flour into the water in a steady stream, beating out lumps as they form. Add the salt and 4 tbsp of the olive oil and whisk until it is the consistency of thin cream.
3. Let the batter rest, covered, at room temperature for at least 4 hours and up to overnight. This is not optional: the flour needs time to hydrate, and the resting is what takes away the chalky raw-chickpea taste. A skin of foam will rise — skim it off before baking.
4. Heat the oven as high as it goes, 250 C or more, with a heavy steel or cast-iron pan of about 30 cm inside it for 20 minutes. Fainá needs a fierce base heat and a pan that is already hot.
5. Pour the remaining 2 tbsp of oil into the hot pan, swirl it, pour in the batter to a depth of no more than 8 mm, and scatter over the black pepper, rosemary and cheese.
6. Bake 20 to 25 minutes until the top is blistered and mottled brown, the edges have pulled in and gone lacy and crisp, and the centre is set but still soft and slightly custardy underneath. A thicker pour will need longer and will be the more Uruguayan style.
7. Cut in wedges, grind the white pepper over and eat immediately, on its own or laid over a slice of pizza.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

• Farinata di Ceci — Italian · Liguria
• Kuku Sabzi — Persian
• Italian String Beans — Italian
• Insalata Caprese — Italian
• Spanish-Style Chicken With Rice And Peppers — Spanish

Keep reading: what herbaceous, richness, salinity mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.