I’ve written about chickpea flour before. On the Côte d’Azur and in Liguria, it’s the common ingredient for delicious pancakes cooked in large, flat copper pans. Topped only with black pepper in Nice, where it’s called socca, Ligurians often add herbs or thinly sliced onions to their farinata. Explore this …

I’m getting in early with an event to mark in your 2015 diary. The Riviera now has its very own international wine festival, Rivini! The brainchild of Massimo Sacco, Chef Sommelier at the Fairmont Monte Carlo and Bradley Mitton, the Riviera’s New World wine expert, the first edition of Rivini …

It’s a story I’ve heard a few times now. Visitors arrive in Nice. Ask restaurant for a bottle of local wine. “So you’ll be wanting a rosé from Provence?” Considering that, for most people, their only chance to discover the wines of Nice and surrounds    

By Jilly When you only have a limited time to enjoy Provence, authentic experiences are to be treasured. This one came lovingly wrapped in the form of a friends’ invitation to join them for a special day. Wrapped up cozily against the chill of a provencal winter, a lazy Explore …

By aixcentric There seems to be quite a churn in restaurants in Aix – especially along rue d’Italie, my route into town. But I was very sad to hear about the impending closure of The Provence Shop in rue Victor Leydet. We had lunch there today and it was very …

Sheep and goats have wondered the hilly fields of Provence for centuries – providing milk for all the wonderful regional cheeses. Larger animals such as dairy cows and beef cattle are not well-suited to the harsh Mediterranean climate and limited grazing land. The seasonal movement of the sheep and goat …

Tasty Bites in Uzes Mon fils and I are on the way the Lyon, the “stomach of France.” The 5-star restaurants in Lyon are hardly within our budget; nevertheless, we’re ready for some extraordinary French cuisine. Meanwhile in Uzes, we’ve been spending a lot of time at local […] Explore …

Where Paris restaurants trip over themselves to serve up Belgium-style (that might raise a few French eyebrows) moules-frites to the tourist crowd, Provencal chefs are happy with their variations. Mussel farming is the highest-volume shellfish industry in Europe. However, it is by no means contemporary. Shellfish cultivation on wooden stakes …

I’m still getting used to a Northern Hemisphere Christmas. Yes, I’m one of those strange people from the south who thinks Christmas should be hot, spent outside by the barbeque, enjoying a traditional festive menu of prawns and mangoes, before an afternoon swim to cool off.  

Bourride is a simple Provencal fish stew made with white fish. The broth is thickened with aïoli, a homemade garlicky mayonnaise. Many ingredients are similar, making it a cousin of Bouillabaisse. Preparing bourride is relatively quick, depending on the thickness of the fish. However, its creamy texture separates it from …