Fresh Goat Cheese with Zucchini and Olive Oil does not require Cooking but is so good
During our first two weeks of sailing, we follow the French Riviera, the Mediterranean coast of the Provence. The region became French in 1486. Its cuisine is now fully incorporated into France's culinary heritage. There is plenty of literature on the Cuisine Provençale. It allows me to be selective and focus on my favorites dishes. Having a secondary residence in the Ardèche helps. The food in our department is – by and large - identical.
La Salade Nicçoise had very simple Beginnings
Unlike the Haute Cuisine of France, which takes inspiration from the meals the French Kings and nobles ate, Provence Food is local and poor people’s diet. Salade Niçoise is the perfect example. It started as a simple peasant dish with just tomatoes, anchovies and olives – that’s all a farmer family had available in summer. They had neither eggs nor tuna nor green beans. These were luxury products eaten by wealthy people. As tourists began to arrive on the French Riviera after 1865, the hotel chefs upgraded the local dishes for their more affluent clients and created the modern Cuisine Provençale. We should remember that most of the French Riviera’s early visitors came for health reasons and stayed the entire winter season. They looked for a healthy and diversified diet.
The baked Version of Ratatouille takes longer to prepare but makes anybody craving for it
My favorite Provençale dish is Ratatouille which became famous with the animated movie. Ratatouille started as a stew for vegetables which were too damaged to be sold in the market but could still be consumed – at least partially. Our parents never threw away a damaged vegetable but cut off any inedible part. Ratatouille is the same. A leftover stew.
Cooking starts with browning the sliced onions in olive oil, then you add sliced red peppers. After a good five minutes you extinguish it with a cup of water or wine, add sliced zucchini, followed by cubed egg plants and tomatoes. On low fire simmer for 30 minutes and spice it up with wild oregano and thyme which you find everywhere in the Provence. The dish is simple and delicious and you can taste the fine flavor of the vegetables. I love to eat it with a fish fillet browned in butter and olive oil.
The less artistic & simpler Ratatouille is equally good!
Most recipes now add stock which I find regrettable. At first, it tastes better and has more oomph thanks to the fat and salt. But it also masks the delicate flavor of the dish. We always should be open to new ideas though. Recently, I saw a Ratatouille which is half stewed, half baked. With the exception of the tomatoes the vegetables are pre-boiled, then arranged in a baking dish and put for a good 15 minutes in the oven. The water from the boiling is used to keep the dish moist. It takes twice the time to prepare a Ratatouille like this but it is very pleasing to the eye.
The "modernised" Version of Salade Niçoise with Tuna, Beans, Eggs and Potatoes
My second favorite dish is Salade Niçoise. It is easy to assemble even if you make it with more elaborate ingredients than in the original recipe. It is the perfect alternative to fast food. Keep a few boiled potatoes, beans and eggs in your fridge and preparation takes not longer than ten minutes. Olive oil and wine vinegar as salad sauce are perfect. If you like add a few fresh Provence herbs. I love it with a glass of Rosé.
Tapenade, the flexible and multi-use olive based spread
My next favorite is Tapenade: a delicious olive spread I prepared often in the past - a perfect alternative to Italian bruschetta. Now, it is easily available in every weekend market. It is not difficult to make though. It is poor people’s food again. It takes a bit of garlic, anchovies, capers, Herbes de Provence and lots of black olives. The latter are the most time consuming to prepare since you need to put the olives in an airtight jar for two months after harvest, then wash them in brine for a few hours and salt them for two days to make them edible. Put all the ingredients through a blender or a French passe-vite. Et voilà. Your Tapenade is ready. It is perfect on toasted bread or anything else you want to spread it on.
There are so many variants of Bouillabaisse I do not even know where to start to count
As number four follows the classic bouillabaisse. Again a leftover dish for people with limited income. It was made from the fish parts which nobody wanted to buy The fact that the dish is made with prawns which people once considered as “impure” because they were sea scavengers, says it all. There are many ways to make a bouillabaisse. Here is my recipe. First comes the sauce which is made from the head of prawns. Quickly fry them in olive oil, then extinguish with a glass of white wine (water does the trick too), let simmer for a bit, remove the shells. In parallel, fry onions and garlic in olive oil until yellow, add a few small cubes of boiled potatoes, simmer for a few minutes. Combine the two stocks. Then cut three or four ripe tomatoes into little pieces, add to the stock and let simmer for a good 15 min on low fire. The water of the tomatoes has to reduce. Season as you like – In my view the prawn heads season it well enough. Now add first the prawn bodies, wait two minutes, then pieces of any white fish, simmer two minutes and eventually add the mussels. When the mussels open, the dish is ready. Some people add saffron – but I like the simpe version and eat it with roasted bread to mop up the soupy sauce.
Les Petits Farcis - easy to make - so good to eat
The fifth recipe is for Petits Farcis – stuffed tomatoes, peppers or zucchinis. They take an hour to make. 30 min for the preparation and half an hour to bake at 200 degrees Celsius. Whichever vegetable you choose, they are all prepared the same way. Cut the top of and lay aside. Scoop the inside out leaving only the shell. Then prepare the stuffing. Cook a finely chopped onion and a few garlic toes in olive oil, add minced meat (lamb or beef) and brown for 5 min. Add old bread softened with water or boiled rice and mix with minced meat. Stuff the vegetables with the mixture and top with parmesan or pecorino cheese if you like. Bake in the oven for 30 min. This dish always makes a perfect dinner.
La Daube Provencal - was made for men working in construction or in shipping
My last recipe is the Daube Provençale which is similar to the Boeuf Bourginion but replaces the onions with carrots, celery, a tomato and a few black olives. Today’s version requires a full bottle of red wine – something poor farmers could not afford. But am sure they had access to diluted country wine (half wine, half water). Again, there are so many recipes it is difficult to recommend one. Martha Stewart’s on the web is pretty good and close to how I do it (her recipe is more sophisticated though).
Have not mentioned Aïoli, the garlic sauce, Socca, the flat bread or truffle omelettes but have to stop. This piece is already too long.
The Romans loved the Provence - I think I know why - the Food is heavenly