Mar 24 2009
The Foods of Provence
Ancient Greeks introduced Olives to Provence more than two and a half thousand years ago. Today they are found in nearly everything from sauces, salads, tarts, pizza, and when mixed with capers and blended to a paste it is spread on bread or biscuits, and even can be found in the traditional beef stew. Olive oil is the always the start for Provence cooking, often spiced with chilies or herbs it can also be poured on pizza, sandwiches, and salads. The most popular addition to olive oil would be garlic, Two of the best known concoctions are “Pistou” which is a paste of olive oil, garlic and basil and “aioli” a name for both a garlic mayonnaise and a dish which it’s served with of salted cod and vegetables.
Vegetables seem to always be in season in Provence often starting while northern France is still in the middle of winter. Ratatouille ingredients such as tomato, capsicum, aubergines, courgettes, onion and asparagus are the favorites. Corgette flowers stuffed with the Pistou paste is one of their most tasty delicacies.
Sheep provide the staple meat often roasted with Provencal herbs but fish is what is featured most on the menu, fresh water trout, salt cod, anchovies, sea bream, sea bass, monkfish, and whiting are all common in the area as are clams, periwinkles, oysters, spider crabs, and sea urchins.
Cheeses are made from goat’s milk or Ewes milk. Two of the most popular are Banon which is wrapped in chestnut leaves and marinated in a brandy and Picadon which comes from the foothills of the Alps.
Sweets in this area include chocolates, almond sweets called calissons, candied fruit and nougat. As for fruit there are melons, white peaches, apricots, figs, cherries, and Muscat grapes. Their honey is made from Almonds and lavender which certainly give it a distinct flavor.
Wines in Provence are mostly produced in the Cotes du Rhone vineyards, of which the most celebrated is Crozes- Heritage appellation. The best wines are found in the villages around the Dentelles namely Gigondas and Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Off to the west are the light, drinkable but not exceptionally special wines. Huge quantities of wine are made in Provence with many of the vineyards having been planted during WWl to supply each French soldier a litre a day. However, the very best wines found in Provence come from along the coastline.
