The back story
A Taste of Monaco: Barbagiuan, Fougasse and Stocafi
The dishes that taste of Monaco: barbagiuan, fougasse, stocafi, and where to find them in the guide.
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © Benoît Prieur · CC0 via Wikimedia CommonsA short guide to Monegasque food: the barbagiuan of rice and chard, the fougasse that is the Principality’s signature sweet, stocafi, Monaco’s stockfish, and the market, bakers, chocolate maker and brewery where you taste them.
Monaco is known for its grand dining rooms, but the Principality also has a cooking of its own, and a few dishes taste of nowhere else. You find them at the market, at the bakers and on the tables of the old town.
The Monegasque table
Start with the barbagiuan, a small pastry stuffed with rice and chard. It is the classic Monegasque bite, as good with an aperitif as on its own.
Stocafi is the Monegasque name for stockfish, and it is the Principality’s great traditional dish. It even has its moment of glory each year: on National Day, 19 November, the Marché de la Condamine serves a giant stockfish at noon.
Socca and pissaladière, the flavours of the whole Côte d’Azur, are part of the same Riviera table.
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © Mx. Granger · CC0 via Wikimedia CommonsThe market
The market halls of La Condamine, on the Place d’Armes, are where locals gather every morning for fresh produce and local specialities. On the same square, the bakery-café A Roca bakes Monegasque specialities such as fougasse monégasque, with branches in Monte-Carlo and Fontvieille too.
Monaco’s signature sweet is a fougasse, and its national day ends with a giant stockfish at the market.
Sweet Monaco
The fougasse is the Principality’s signature sweet, and the one to bring home. For chocolate, the Chocolaterie de Monaco, founded in 1920 and a supplier to the Prince’s Palace, makes Monegasque crowns, Prince’s rocks and gianduiotti, with a tea room steps from the palace.
Before Christmas, Monegasque bakers also offer U Pan de Natale, the Christmas bread, in return for a donation to charity. And to drink, the Brasserie de Monaco on Port Hercule brews its craft beer on site with organic malts.
Did you know? On Monaco’s National Day the Marché de la Condamine serves a giant stockfish at noon.
Our advice
Our advice: go to the Condamine market halls in the morning and try a barbagiuan with your coffee, then walk up to the Rock for chocolate at the Chocolaterie de Monaco. Bring a fougasse home: it travels well.
Why it's on our list
- The Monegasque table
- The market
- Sweet Monaco
- Our advice
Location
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