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The Provençal table is blessed with a rich variety of fresh, local ingredients. The cuisine is informal, colorful and strongly flavored. Olives, olive oil, tomatoes, chick peas and fresh herbs – basil, thyme, rosemary, savory, marjoram, mint – play important roles. So does garlic, ranging from mild and sweet to hot and pungent.
Wild mushrooms in Avignon market (© Ferne Arfin)
Although the region doesn’t produce any of France’s most distinguished wines, its microclimates foster a large variety of wines – more than any other comparable part of France.
Here are some typical Provençal specialties:
- Aïoli – a garlicky mayonnaise used for dipping cooked vegetables and fish. A Grande Aïoli, sometimes served as a celebration meal for a whole town, can include boiled potatoes and carrots, tomatoes, salt cod, shellfish, shrimp, langoustines, artichokes, cauliflower, boiled eggs, dry sausages, green beans, grilled sardines, all served with huge bowls of glistening aïoli.
- Pistou – a basil, garlic and parmesan paste (similar to pesto but without the pine nuts) served with vegetable soup.
- Soupe de poisson – a pungent soup made from several kinds of fish, including the Mediterranean rascasse, and served with rouille (pronounced roo-EEE), a fiery, saffron-colored mayonnaise.
- Fougasse – a dense braided or twisted bread made with olive oil.
- Brandade de Morue – a thick, paste of salt cod, mashed potato, garlic and, sometimes, ground olives. Eaten on bread or toast as an hors d’oeuvre.
- Tourte aux blettes – a specialty of Nice, this is a sweet pastry filled with Swiss chard! Delicious, believe it or not.
- Socca – crisp pancake made with chick pea flour, most often seen along the Côte d’Azur.
- Bouillabaisse – a stew of fish, tomatoes and garlic which must include the rascasse or scorpion fish to be a real bouillabaisse. Try it along the seafront in Marseille, Nice, Antibes or Juan les Pins.
- Grilled sardines – nothing like our teensy canned sardines, these are fat little fish, five or six inches long, eaten with the fingers. Ask a local to show you how to remove all the bones with one deft twist.
- Pizza feu de bois – a Riviera specialty, this pizza is cooked on hot stones in wood-burning ovens. It is a real surprise and worth stopping for.
- Muscat de Beaumes de Venise – a very rich dessert wine similar in fragrance and syrupy texture to the finest Sauternes.
- Vin Cuit de Provence – a local wine specialty made from cooked grapes that is usually made for Christmas.
- Tapenade – a salty blend of ground olives, used as a spread on bread.
