It was a “bucket list” item to visit Nice during the annual carnival period. The Carnaval de Nice is a long-standing festival in this French Riviera city and one more reason to visit. While the dates shift slightly each year depending on when Easter falls, from colourful parades to “flower …

We only had a week in Villefranche-sur-Mer on the French Riviera, but we needed a lifetime. Born in Nice, Celine O’Donnell loves her city and has turned her passion into walking tours in Nissa la Belle. On a hot summer day, we joined Celine for a walking tour of Old …

Eggs and Swiss chard are the main ingredients in la trucha, a culinary favourite in Nice, France. Like the Spanish tortilla de patatas, made with egg and potato, la trucha covers a range of meals from snack food to picnic fare to a light meal. Easy to prepare and served …

While we often think of soup as a cold-weather dish, some recipes bridge the seasons perfectly. Filled with vegetables and legumes, la soupe au pistou is one such dish. In Nice and traditional Cuisine Nissarde pistou soup is a summer dish. A mix of seasonal vegetables, potatoes and beans cook …

Dishes such as ratatouille, pan bagnat, panisse, soup au pistou, and salade Niçoise appear on menus throughout the South of France. Many cooks have time-tested variations on these recipes, which may be delicious, but don’t quite follow the Cuisine Nissarde traditions. Although ratatouille is known around the globe, the authentic …

While panisse and socca include chickpea flour and water, the preparation and cooking for these typical Niçoise recipes are different. Like polenta, panisse starts with a dough cooked until it is thick. Then the dough is rolled or shaped and fried in a hot pan. Panisse is served hot and …

Fève(s) is a French word with several meanings – a trinket in the epiphany cake, chocolate disks used by chocolatiers and in baking, and fava beans. So in this Niçoise dessert recipe, we are talking about fava beans for the tart (tourte) filling, egg, sugar, and hints of citrus. The …

Are you looking for ideas on the perfect French Riviera day trip? We turned to Céline O’Donnell, a private tour guide in Nice, for her recommendations on a day trip along the coast to Italy from the city. She has lived in this Côte d’Azur city for 40 years and …

If you like a salad Niçoise, then pan bagnat should be on your list to try. This sandwich is perfect for a lunchtime bite on the go or a picnic and includes many of the same ingredients (tomatoes, olives, tuna, anchovies, and radishes) as the salad inside the centre of …

Nice, France’s 5th largest city, was not always part of l’hexagone but rather part of Italy until 1860, when it was ceded to France under the Treaty of Turin. As a result, the local cuisine evolved from Italian and French culinary influences. Mediterranean ingredients such as almonds, olives, olive oil, …