About Provencal Food and Cuisine | Provencal French Recipes Guide

Provencal Food and Cuisine Overview is here to give you a general idea of our ingredients and the way we use or cook them on the French Riviera - Cote d'Azur.

Please click here to access directly to my Provencal French Recipes and Cooking Information Guide

Provence - French Riviera - Cote d’Azur, different names for this large region in southern France bordering the Mediterranean Sea.

Inland it is even more difficult, no real borders exist.

In fact, it is the South of France and if you look at a map you will understand why it is difficult to define!

Let’s just say the region and everybody will be happy!

The fresh and flavoursome cuisine traditionally eaten in the region most resembles to Italian, Greek or Spanish cuisine, a mix of all in fact!

Beans - Cereals - Fruits - Grains - Vegetables

The region includes the Rhône and Durance valleys - highly fertile agricultural areas.

They are considered to be the garden of France.

Commonly enjoyed vegetables include tomatoes, eggplants (aubergines), peppers (capsicums), garlic, onions, salad (especially lettuce), carrots, fennel, potatoes, mushrooms, cabbage, zucchini (courgettes), artichokes and asparagus.

These vegetables are traditionally added in the Provencal food and cuisine to bakes and soups or appetizing stews such as Ratatouille (Vegetable Stew) or eaten raw in salads (such as the mouth-watering Salade Niçoise.

Fruits are traditionally eaten as a snack and dessert.

Cherries, grapes, melons, watermelons, berries ( from strawberry to blueberry!), figs, dates, lemons, oranges, pears and apples are some of the most popular varieties.

Wheat is the most commonly eaten grain-food that we use in the region and in the our Provencal food and cuisine to make a wide variety of breads including crusty baguettes, Fougasse, whole grain loaves ( we have so many different breads and pastries here!).

A popular Provencal sandwich that we have here is the Pan Bagnat which is a circle formed white bread filled with tuna, tomatoes, olives, peppers and steeped in an olive oil dressing (in fact with Salade Niçoise).

Wheat flour is also used to make the base of our Provençal Onion Pizza known as Pissaladière).

Here we enjoyed Beans in a wide variety of dishes including stews, bakes and soups - such as the delicious Soupe au Pistou, a bean and vegetable soup infused with basil.

We enjoyed Green beans in hot dishes or are cooked and cooled and added to salads.

The most commonly enjoyed lentil in the Provencal food and cuisine is the Puy lentil (French: Lentilles du Puy-de-Dôme), which is a small, slightly peppery lentil that retains its shape when cooked (which is not from here actually, it grows in the centre of France).

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Olives and olive oil

The region has a sun-blessed climate that makes it ideal for olive growing.

And like our Italian neighbours to the east, we rely heavily on olives, for our Provencal food and cuisine.

Olive oil is used for "sautéing" foods, and is added to sauces, dressings, dips and marinades.

Whole (green or blacks) olives are scattered into hot dishes and salads, or are eaten as a snack (sometimes we filled them with anchovies, capsicums and/or other ingredients).

Olives are also an essential ingredient in tapenade, a luscious Provençal paste made with olives, olive oil, anchovies, capers and garlic which is typically spread on bread or served with grilled fish or chicken.

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Fish and Shellfish

The region borders the Mediterranean sea, and fish and shellfish are eaten in abundance.

Commonly enjoyed fish and shellfish include: tuna, sea bass, anchovies, red snapper, red mullet, monkfish, shrimp, crab, mussels, scallops and oysters.

Popular fish and shellfish dishes include bouillabaisse (a robust stew made with tomatoes, saffron and several varieties of fish and shellfish, which is typically eaten with toasted bread slices and a flavoursome garlic-chili mayonnaise called rouille).

Among other dishes we also have in our Provencal food and cuisine the Salade Niçoise (a vegetable, tuna and anchovy salad) and plateau de fruits de mer (a plate of fresh seafood accompanied with lemon wedges for drizzling).

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Meat - Cheese - Poultry - Eggs

Meat has traditionally been eaten sparingly throughout the region.

When meat is eaten, it is typically sheep or beef, and served in small amounts to add flavour and texture to our Provencal Food and Cuisine.

Cheese is enjoyed regularly, especially chèvre (goat) cheese.

Just a note here: Did you know that in France we have more type of cheese than days in a year?!

The goat cheese is produced here in the region and can range in texture from soft and creamy to dry and semi-firm; all depends on your tastes.

Chicken is a popular addition to stews and bakes, and eggs are enjoyed in omelettes (such as the Provençal omelette called Crespeus which usually contains vegetables like tomatoes, zucchini and mushrooms) or hard boiled and added to hot dishes or salads.

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Seasonings

Fresh and dried herbs are used extensively in Provencal food and cuisine.

A popular Provençal mixture of dried dried herb is called Herbes de Provence (Provençal herbs) , and typically contains thyme, marjoram, savory, rosemary, sage, basil, lavender flowers and other herbs.

Some cooks maintain that lavender is an essential ingredient of true herbes de provence.

The proportions vary by manufacturer. Thyme usually dominates the taste produced by the herb mixture.

This herb combination captures the flavours of our sunny french Riviera - Cote d'Azur.

Other commonly used seasonings include saffron, anchoïade (anchovy paste), aïoli (garlic mayonnaise), capers, rouille (chili and garlic mayonnaise), tapenade, wine vinegar and lemon juice.

I hope you enjoyed this overview of our Provencal food and cuisine!

Last note here: In villages, cities you will always find an open-air or covered market: fresh fruit, vegetables, fish and flowers, along with other regional products. This where you meet locals and where you find the best ingredients for your Provencal Food and Cuisine.

Avoid supermarkets as much as you can as my wife and I do!

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