Savoury tarts are something that French cooks do just as well as those tempting sweet creations. This Tomato Tart made with homemade confit tomatoes is a breath of summer any time of the year. Of course, we all dream of those summer days when you can pick tomatoes in your …

The following guest article by French Waterways, “18 Foodie Treats to Eat in Provence,” is republished below with permission. We have added links to recipes for these Provencal favourites. If you are looking for cruising inspiration and information, french-waterways.com is the world’s most comprehensive and best-loved source of inspiration and …

Focaccia is Italian or more precisely comes from Geona. The Ligurians consume this thin bread (approximately 2cm thick) all day from coffee time to the apéro hour. Provencal fougasse is slightly different. The Provencal version often includes savoury additions like black olives,

Maybe it’s a bit cliché to bake pink, citrus, almond heart-shaped cookies for Valentine’s Day…but then again why not? And, while you are at it pop the cork on a bottle of pink bubbly from Provence like our La Folie sparkling rosé.

Traditional Provencal cuisine used hyper-local ingredients, picked from the potager (kitchen garden), foraged in the hills, and hunted nearby. In a region where dairy and beef were only available for the wealthy, ingredients such as coconut milk, curry and lime definitely were not part of any cook’s pantry. Today, Provencal …

At least once a year we head to the Jean Martin Boutique in Maussane-les-Alpilles for a cooking class. The Ateliers de Cusine are short workshop-style classes which last for two and a half (2 1/2) hours. The menus change roughly every two months, but the class format is always the …

To bringing a course for the meal that related to our interpretation of the song. My contribution was this delicious Lemon-Frosted Pistachio Cake, a recipe by food writer, author and chef Nigel Slater.

Provencal Bistro Classic We stumbled across the Bistrot du Paradou quite by hazard, on one of our drives around the Alpilles villages. It turns out that we were quite naive with regards to this restaurant’s gastronomic reputation and its loyal fan base. We now understand just how lucky we were …

This chocolate-based sauce for the steak adds a slightly decadent finish to the grilled meat. The sauce worked well in a pairing with the Hermitage La Petite Chapelle (2012) from Paul Jaboulet-Aîné, a red wine from the Northern Rhône Valley.

A Winter Gathering with Friends Generally, we head back to Los Angeles for the winter months, but my culinary heart remains tied to France. The flavours of Provence inspired the following winter dinner party menu. These three dishes will warm your insides, serve with some delicious French wine and the …