Farinata

Farinata is one of the simplest and most satisfying things you'll eat in Genova. It's a thin flatbread made from chickpea flour, water, olive oil, and salt — baked in a blazing wood-fired oven in a wide copper pan until the top is golden and the inside is creamy.

The texture is everything: crispy edges that shatter when you bite them, a custardy centre that's barely set. It should be eaten immediately — hot from the oven, with a generous crack of black pepper on top. In Genova, we eat it standing at the counter of the forno, usually as a late-afternoon snack with a glass of white wine.

Near us, just 8 minutes away, La Funicolare on Corso Magenta bakes excellent farinata in a wood-fired oven — and it's also our favourite for focaccia col formaggio. It's a pizzeria open in the evenings, so book a table by phone.

There are variations: farinata con il rosmarino (with rosemary), con le cipolle (with onions), con il bianchetto (with tiny whitebait fish — seasonal and extraordinary). Some places also make panissette — farinata cut into strips and deep-fried. Addictive.