What to eat and drink in Provence

Provençal cuisine is also called la cuisine du soleil, or the cuisine of the sun, a colourful cuisine rich in vegetables and fruit, seafood and traditional Mediterranean dishes characterised by a delicious mix of olive oil, garlic and herbs.

The Provençal table is a riot of aromas, scents and flavours of the terroir, of the territory, ranging from the sun-drenched olive groves of the countryside to the rice fields and grazing herds of Camargue, from the fishing boats of the coast to the truffles of the cooler plains.

Very fresh ingredients that follow the rhythm of the seasons and the natural cycles of the earth. In short, a healthy cuisine, full of charm but above all genuine that will delight even the most demanding.

Meat and sausages

Lamb is undoubtedly the most popular and appreciated meat, which comes from the fragrant pastures of Sisteron, but game with rabbits, hares and wild boar is also very present in Provençal cuisine.

• Boef en daube: stew of beef or wild boar marinated in red wine, with onions, garlic and tomatoes.
• Gigot d’agneau: roast leg of lamb.
• Pieds et paquets: sheep’s feet wrapped in tripe and cooked in wine and tomato.
• Gardianne de taureau: Camargue bull stew, served with local red rice.
• Caillettes: liver and pork meatballs with juniper and spinach.
• Saucisson: famous donkey salami from Arles, from bull in Camargue.

Fish

Due to its coastal location, Provence is also home to fish and seafood, which are often grilled or mixed in hearty soups with white wine and tomato.

• Bouillarbasse: this is the most famous fish soup in Provence and comes straight from the Marseille tradition. It consists of local fish including mullet and redfish with tomato and saffron served in a hearty broth and toasted bread with a spicy mayonnaise called rouille.
• Burride: the simplest version of bouillarbasse, a garlicky fish soup.
• Loup au fenouil: sea bass stuffed with fennel and cooked in the oven with white wine or on the grill.
• Plat du fruit de mer: mixture of mussels(moules), crabs, prawns (gambas) and sea urchins(oursins).
• Brandade de morue: cream of cod with potatoes, olives, a Nîmes speciality.
• Supions frits: squid sautéed in a pan and seasoned with garlic and parsley
• Anchoïade: anchovy paste with garlic and olives.

Reworked vegetables

The wonderful markets of Provence are full of colourful and tasty fruit and vegetables. Vegetables also play a starring role in the cuisine you will find in restaurants and bistros, for example served raw accompanied byaïoli, garlic mayonnaise, or the numerous tapenades, anchovy, olive and caper pâtés.

Tomatoes, courgettes, peppers, aubergines, artichokes you will find cooked in all sorts of ways, often stuffed with meat, rice and herbs or sautéed with butter and lard.

• Soupe au pistou: a pesto soup, a kind of rich minestrone flavoured with a basil, pine nut and garlic sauce, practically omnipresent in Provençal cuisine.
• Ratatouille: a stew of vegetables (aubergines, courgettes, green peppers) sautéed with oil, garlic and herbs.
• Arichauts à la barigoule: small local purple artichokes stuffed with lard and cooked in wine.
• Provençal complet: mixed vegetables, boiled potatoes, boiled egg and some couquillage, the shellfish.

Desserts

Provence, unlike French pastry in general, does not like overly elaborate desserts. It prefers fresh fruit such as fragrant melons from Cavaillon, lemons from Menton or candied fruit from Apt.

Instead, you will find tasty tartes made with simple custard, berries and chestnut and lavender honey. Almonds and aniseed are also popular in sweet compounds.

• Pompe à huile: leavened pastry baked with olive oil and flavoured with orange blossom water.
• Papalines d’Avignon: chocolate pralines with liqueur.
• Gâteau secs aux amandes: crunchy almond biscuits.
• Calissons: almond biscuits covered in icing typical of Aix-en-Provence.
• Tarte tropézienne: cream tart typical of Saint-Tropez.

Wines

This region of France has a very rich variety of wines, from robust reds to pleasant whites ideal for accompanying fish dishes. They may not be the most renowned in France but they are certainly excellent to pair with your tasting of Provençal cuisine.

White wines

Grenache grapes are particularly fragrant and are ideal to accompany fish.

The wines of the Côte du Rhone are particularly pleasant, still harvested strictly by hand: the winegrowers say that it is the galets, flat, smooth pebbles that cover the land, that give the grapes their distinctive body.

Red wines

The best quality is undoubtedly the robust Châteauneuf-du-Pape, ideal for meat dishes or those of Bandol, with the intense aroma of the black mourvèdre grapes, which need a lot of sunshine to acquire their characteristic flavour.

Rosé wines

The rosé wine in this region is not just a light aperitif wine, but a special quality, intense and full-bodied, capable of accompanying the strong flavours of Provençal cuisine, in which garlic abounds.

We particularly recommend the vin de sable from the Camargue, a vine that grows on the dunes and is fortified by the sun, wind and saltiness.

Aperitifs and digestives

Travelling around Provence, you will discover that sipping a small glass before or after a meal is a local tradition and a real pleasure for those who are not in a hurry. Most of these products are flavoured with Provençal herbs, aromas and spices.

• Pastis: a true institution and liqueur par excellence of the region. Not recommended for those who do not appreciate aniseed!
• Beumes de Venise: sweet muscat used as an aperitif.
• Liqueur de châitagnes: chestnut liqueur from the Massif de Maure that is mixed with white wine and served as an aperitif.
• Rinquinquin de pêche: peach liqueur from Folcalquier.
• Amandine: almond liqueur from Haute Provence.
• Elixir du Révérende Père Gaucher: a sweet blend of no fewer than 30 aromatic herbs typical of Tarascona.
• Eau de vie: a spirit, a distillate of local fruits used as a digestive.