The ingredients are few for this dish – pain de mie (I really think the bread must be pain de mie – and never sour dough; anyone in France want to weigh in?), ham, cheese, béchamel sauce, and mustard. There are (if you look online) hundreds of recipes, each with a slight variation: the cheese in the béchamel or the cheese on top; mustard on both pieces of bread, or just one side; toast the bread, grill the sandwich, bake it, broil it, or a hybrid. Basically, they all work!

On a recent trip to Uzès, Chef Eric Fraudeau of Cook’n with Class (Uzès and Paris) created this recipe for Monkfish with cream of peas at a market cooking class. It was delicious and a clever pairing of the pea soup base with the smoky bacon.

This recipe was the grand finale of a market cooking class at Cook’n with Class in Uzès. The dessert can be made with other stone fruit (peaches, nectarines, plums) or even with strawberries. However, the key is that the stone fruit should not be overly ripe, as the ingredients naturally create a juice.

This Cocoa & Lavender is perfect for vegetarians, but we are pretty sure even your carnivore friends will be begging for seconds. David combines bright colours, fresh vegetable (in season) and a zesty curry flavour into an all-star dish.

Crespeou (pronounced cres-PAY-oo) means crêpe in Provencal is also called Gâteau d’Omelettes. This is a traditional Provencal recipe, which is often found in picnic hampers

She was surprised how easy it is to clean and prepare the squid. If you are unsure you can always ask your fishmonger to do the hard work for you. This recipe is actually very easy despite the many steps.

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: For those learning French, Kristi Espinasse’s blog French Word A Day is a must. Our bloggeuse lives with her French husband and teenagers in a vineyard near Bandol and relates incidents from her daily life while introducing useful bits of vocabulary to her myriad followers …

Summer holidays call for easy recipes and portable meals that work just as well at the beach as on a buffet table. This summer picnic menu is inspired by the endless sunny days and cicada-filled symphonies of Provence. Enjoy summer dining al fresco with these simple to make, easy to pack and delicious …

With this dish you can vary the vegetables and I think it’s lovely to use a mixture of aubergine, courgettes and tomatoes. The meat is generally a mixture of beef and pork, seasoned with herbs and spices.

In David’s Cocoa and Lavender post for Pâté au Thon he turns ordinary canned tuna into a masterpiece. The full recipe is below for what might just become your go-to “impress the guests” appetizer.