In breve

The dish in short

• Only chickpea flour, water, salt and olive oil: three parts water to one of flour, whisked into a very liquid batter with no lumps.
• The batter rests at least 4–5 hours, or overnight in the fridge, and the foam that forms on top is skimmed off.
• A thin layer, about 6 mm–7 mm, in a hot, well-oiled round tin of tinned copper, iron or aluminium, never non-stick.
• Baked very hot near the top of the oven for about 13 minutes, the tin shaken and turned so the rising oil runs back down.
• Eaten at once, hot or warm, often with ground black pepper; the original is baked in a wood-fired oven.