“More than a simple sandwich, Chez Tintin’s pan-bagnat is a delicacy, as fresh as it is fragrant”

VScucumber, lettuce, mayonnaise: he suffered every outrage. Like its cousin, the niçoise salad, which tolerates potatoes, corn and sometimes green beans, the pan-bagnat sees its composition often jostled and its name scratched. However, it is a pillar of Nice cuisine, whose recipe happens to be ultra-codified.

In Nice, everyone has their favorite convict and the subject can be passionate. If it does not correspond 100% to the approved recipe (but close), the pan-bagnat from the Kiosque Tintin is, for many, the reference. Just look at the queue that forms at lunchtime from this tiny place in the heart of the Liberation district.

It is there, a few steps from the Nice-Ville train station, that a large market is held every day except Monday. Less touristy than the Cours Saleya, the “Libé” has a real soul, which we owe in part to the Tintin kiosk, run since 1990 by the same family – Daniel Pellegrino first, then Ornella Pellegrino, his daughter , which took over, four years ago, this 17 square meter institution which bears the name of kiosk without being one.

Well-oiled ritual

It is that before settling in Place du Général-de-Gaulle, thanks to the redevelopment of the district, Tintin was a small cabin located in front of the Gare du Sud which took its name from a previous owner. There were already local specialties: pissaladière, chard pie and, therefore, pan-bagnat. “Wet bread”, in Nice, because it was originally a question of moistening stale bread with water in order to soften it and pair it with a salad made with local produce. Over the years, tuna and eggs once reserved for wealthy families have become established and it is the equivalent of the Niçoise salad found in pan-bagnat – mesclun aside.

However, it is not a question of stuffing everything into bread without thinking. With Tintin, the preparation of the bagnat is a well-oiled ritual… “On a round loaf, explains Ornella Pellegrino, we have the slices of tomatoes, the mixture of radish, onion, celery made beforehand, then the tuna, the egg and, on request, the anchovies. » To which is added the seasoning: salt, pepper, olive oil and red wine vinegar.

There are on average 150 pan-bagnats per day here, with peaks of 300 in high season. This best-seller, which reveals all its charms in summer, is the fruit of a perfectly mastered delicate balance. More than a simple sandwich, the Kiosque Tintin pan-bagnat is a delicacy, as fresh as it is fragrant, where bread softened by tomato juice and olive oil meets the crunchiness of raw vegetables, the richness of tuna , the sweetness of the hard-boiled egg and, for the amateurs, the salinity of the anchovies which magnify everything.

A cleverly thought-out harmony which, while remaining faithful to the spirit of tradition, has been adapted to the customer’s taste – in particular by dispensing with peppers, deemed less digestible. So much so that at lunchtime it can be difficult to find a place on the terrace from which to observe the comings and goings of the market. The welcome, always friendly and smiling, increases this pleasure tenfold… without guilt. Ornella Pellegrino notes: “No industrial sauce, no cheese and vegetables: with my mother, as a joke, we used to say that the pan-bagnat could be reimbursed by Social Security. » That of Tintin more than any other credits.