Spring - Taste the Seasonal Dishes
Our beautiful region offers an exceptional range of rich and delicious dishes centring around olive oil, fragrant herbs, garlic and spices. Provençal cuisine is characterised by the abundant use of vegetables and some meals are known across the world!
Of course, these dishes can be enjoyed all year round, but they are recommended for springtime to make the most of seasonal fruits and vegetables because they taste better, are more nutritional, are richer in antioxidants, are less processed and less expensive! Bon appétit à tous!
Aïoli
What is it exactly?
Aïoli is a garlic and olive oil emulsion sauce that is very common in the Mediterranean region. It has become a dish in its own right, combined with the sauce, made with cod, whelks, prawns or mussels, boiled seasonal vegetables (carrots, potatoes, cauliflower, green beans, leeks) and hard-boiled eggs. It is a unique dish that can be enjoyed with family or friends!
Origin
This traditional meal is said to have appeared in Ancient Egypt and the Roman Empire.
Although aïoli, as one of Provence's favourite dishes, is eaten all year round today, in the Middle Ages it was eaten during Lent, on Fridays, and especially on Good Friday! After the plague of 1720, the people of Marseilles began to use garlic in large quantities for its antiseptic properties. Frédéric Mistral, the great Provençal poet, described modern-day aïoli in the Armano Provençau in 1874:
"Aïoli concentrates in its essence the heat, the strength, the joy of the sun of Provence, but it also has a virtue, that of chasing away flies. Those who don't like it, those whose stomachs revolt at the thought of our oil and garlic, will not come and hang around us...".
A Recipe
Marseille Aïoli:
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Serves 4 Preparation time: 15 min Cooking time: 20 min |
Ingredients For the aïoli:
For the filling:
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- Crush the raw garlic cloves to a purée. Whisk the aïoli into a mayonnaise-like sauce. Add a pinch of salt, the egg yolk and the lemon juice. Gradually drizzle in the olive oil whilst whisking to obtain a firm mayonnaise.
- Poach the desalted cod in a pot of simmering water with a few bay leaves.
- Steam the vegetables separately.
- Cook the boiled eggs for 9 minutes and shell them.
- Arrange the fish, the still warm vegetables, the shelled eggs, the shrimps and the whelks in a large serving dish.
- Enjoy!
Unbelievable but true!
Aïoli remains a source of pride for the people of Provence, so much so that there are associations to defend and promote this dish blessed by the gods: they are the Compagnons de l'aïoli de Solliès-Toucas (Var), the Confrérie des Chevalier de l'Aïet de Trets (Var) and the Confrérie roussillonnaise de l'aïoli.
There is a Petit Traité amoureux de l'aïoli! written by Jacques Bonnadier (2015) which is a little book that explains the essential history of aïoli, its uses and why it is adored in Provence.
Niçoise Salad
What is it exactly?
A speciality of Nice, as its name suggests, the Niçoise salad is so successful that it is eaten all over the world. This salad is made up of tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs, salted anchovies, tuna, spring onions, small black olives from Nice and basil. You can add raw fava beans, purple artichokes, celery hearts and green peppers. The dish is infused with garlic, and a vinaigrette made from olive oil, salt, a little vinegar and pepper is added.
Note: there are no cooked ingredients in the Niçoise salad except for the hard-boiled eggs.
Origin
Two centuries ago, the Niçoise salad was only made of tomatoes, anchovies and olive oil. Later, as conditions became less harsh and more vegetables were grown, more ingredients were added. But be careful, you don't put just anything in this salad... at the beginning of the last century, the famous chef Auguste Escoffier committed sacrilege by adding potatoes and green beans! Today, there are many unorthodox versions that outrage the people of Nice who are attached to their traditional cuisine!
A Recipe
Niçoise Salad:
This recipe is taken from "Carnets de cuisine du Comté de Nice".
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Serves 8 Preparation time: 20 min |
Ingredients
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- Wash the vegetables.
- Clean the radishes, keeping them whole with their tender leaves.
- Garnish a large dish, previously rubbed with garlic, with salad leaves.
- Cut the tomatoes into quarters, arrange them on the salad leaves and season with salt.
- Thinly slice the white of the celery and the tender part of the artichokes, the green peppers and the spring onions. Add the fava beans.
- Arrange the vegetables on top of the tomatoes. Add salt.
- Add the tuna, leaving large pieces, the chopped basil and decorate with the hard-boiled eggs cut into quarters, the anchovies and the olives.
- Pour in the oil at the last moment, plus the ground pepper.
- Enjoy!
Unbelievable but true!
There are associations that defend the Niçoise cuisine! They have agreed with the Union départementale des Offices de Tourisme et Syndicats d'Initiative on roughly fifteen fundamental local recipes, of which the famous Niçoise salad is one. They created a "Cuisine Nissarde" label in 1995, according to certain criteria. To qualify, restaurant owners must offer at least three of the recipes mentioned in the booklet on their menu. It is also stated that the products used must be local and in season.
Courgette Flower Fritters
What is it exactly?
Courgette flower fritters, courgette flowers coated in batter, are a speciality of Provençal cuisine. Courgette flowers bloom from April to October. They are orange flowers that are sometimes as big as a hand! There are both male and female courgette flowers, but only the male flowers are harvested to allow the courgettes to develop.
Origin
Courgettes originate from Central America. Europeans brought them from the New World, but they remained botanical curiosities for farmers. During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, fritters began to be used in Mediterranean cuisine.
A Recipe
Courgette Flower Fritters:
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Serves 4 Preparation time: 10 min Cooking time: 10 min |
Ingredients:
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- Beat the egg, add the flour, oil, milk, salt and pepper, stirring constantly. The dough should be slightly thick and smooth.
- Leave to rest for 1 hour at room temperature.
- Wash the courgette flowers.
- Heat the frying oil in a pan or deep fryer.
- Dip the flowers in the batter.
- Dip them in the frying oil for 2 to 3 minutes. Turn them over when they start to brown.
- Drain on paper towels.
- Enjoy!
Unbelievable but true!
Courgettes are increasingly used in baking! They replace butter and, in chocolate or yoghurt cakes, their taste is so neutral that it goes unnoticed. And you gain in fibre, vitamins and minerals, not to mention the reduced calorie intake... perfect for indulging without feeling guilty!
Artichokes à la barigoule
What is it exactly?
This local recipe is a dish based on purple artichokes, known as "artichokes poivrade", harvested before they are mature and have developed their hay. They are accompanied by lemons, onions, garlic and herbs. The purple artichoke has two seasons: March to May and July to September.
Origin
Originally, the recipe consisted of sprinkling the artichokes with oil and grilling them. The cooks of the manor houses took over the recipe and developed it by adding a special stuffing mixed with bacon. In the 18th century, the stuffing disappeared from the recipe. The oldest recipe was found in the Cuisinier royal ou l'art de faire la cuisine, la pâtisserie et tout ce qui concerne l'office, a book by Viard and Fouret, published in 1822.
A Recipe
Artichokes à la barigoule:
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Preparation time: 30 min Cooking time: 30 min |
Ingredients:
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- Keep 5cm of the artichoke stems. Remove the outer leaves and cut flush with the heart. Peel the base of the heart and the stem with a peeler. Cut the artichokes in half and cover them in lemon juice.
- Peel the carrots and slice them.
- Peel and chop the onions.
- Peel the garlic cloves.
- Rinse and chop the parsley and basil.
- Heat the olive oil and brown the carrots and onions. Add the artichokes, the bouquet of garnish and 2 cloves of garlic. Cover with three quarters of the water, add the white wine and salt.
- Cover and cook for 15 minutes. Remove the lid, increase the heat and reduce.
- Enjoy!
Unbelievable but true!
Did you know that there is no barigoule in this recipe? But what is barigoule? It's a mushroom traditionally used to stuff these artichokes, but, for more than a century, it has not been used at all. The recipe has evolved but the name has remained!
