Page 206 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Provence & The Côte d'Azur

204  TR A VELLERS ’ NEEDS

The Flavours of Provence

The cooking of Provence is known as cuisine du soleil (“the cuisine of the cuisine du soleil (“the cuisine of the cuisine du soleil
sun”) with good reason. Famous for its abundance of glorious, sun-ripe
fruit and vegetables, it is also healthy with plenty of fresh fish and seafood
and fine-quality, lean meat from mountain pastures. Cheeses tend to be
made with goats’ milk. Good produce is enhanced by key ingredients:
olive oil, garlic and aromatic herbs. Local markets are a colourful feast
of seasonal produce: tomatoes, aubergines (eggplants), peppers and
courgettes (zucchini), and freshly picked cherries, melons, lemons and figs.
Most of all, though, Provence is the land of olives and of rich green olive oil. Olives and olive oil
Mediterranean Fish
butter, or sautéed with bacon.
A favourite soup is the robust The fish of the Mediterranean
soupe au pistou, beans and is highly prized, culminating
vegetables laced with a sauce in the famous bouillabaisse.
of basil, pine nuts and garlic. A wide range of fish is caught,
Ratatouille is a fragrant stew of including rockfish, rascasse
vegetables cooked with olive (scorpion fish), red mullet, sea
oil, garlic and herbs. Popular bream, John Dory, monkfish
salads include salade niçoise and squid. Around Nice, the
and mesclun, a regional mixture main catch is sardines and
of leaves, including rocket, anchovies. Most are best
lamb’s lettuce, dandelion enjoyed simply grilled with
Scented, sun-ripened Cavaillon melons leaves and chervil. herbs, like the classic loup (sea
in a Provençal market
Lobster Prawns (shrimp) Squid
Vegetables Mussels Monkfish
Sea bass
In Provençal cooking, Clams
vegetables play a leading role.
They may be served raw as
crudités with aioli (garlic aioli (garlic aioli
mayonnaise) or tapenade
(puréed anchovies, olives
and capers). Tomatoes and
courgettes (zucchini) are often
stuffed in the Niçois style, with
minced meat, rice and herbs.
Small violet artichokes come
with a sauce of lemon and Selection of Mediterranean seafood available in Provence

Provençal Dishes and Specialities
Provence has produced several renowned dishes, of
which bouillabaisse is the most famous. The
ingredients of this fish stew vary from
place to place, though Marseille claims
the original recipe. A variety of local
seafood (always including rascasse, or
scorpion fish) is cooked in stock with
tomatoes and saffron. The fish liquor
is traditionally served first, with
croûtons spread with rouille, a spicy
Fresh figs mayonnaise, and the fish served
afterwards. Once a fishermen’s supper, it is
now a luxury item you may need to order 24 hours in advance.
A simpler version is bourride, a garlicky fish soup. Rich red wine Bouillabaisse Fish often
stews, known as daubes, are another speciality, usually made found in this Provençal classic
with beef, but sometimes tuna or calamari. Other classics includes monkfish, snapper and
include ratatouille and salade niçoise. conger eel.