lantiques

The culinary scene in Provence and Mediterranean coastline has long since been a major draw for the romantics amongst us. The region offers countless specialities only really seen in the area. Famous for its delicious cuisine, bouillabaisse and freshly prepared ratatouille as well the numerous seafood dishes, the south of France and its Mediterranean coast provide a bounty for the hedonistic foodie. Bouzigues Oysters and Sea Bream are a particular speciality found in Etang du Thau, one of the many lagoons found in the region around Montpelier. Local chefs make use of locally sourced ingredients. such as olive oil, herbs, and fresh produce.

In the nineteenth century, classic Provençal cuisine made use of special seasoning mixes to give extra depth and savour to daubes and ragouts of meats and poultry, salmis of game, fish sauces and even brouil- lades and omelettes. Many of these pungent flavour- ing aids combined equal quantities of dried thyme and rosemary, crumbled bay leaf, cracked mignon- ette pepper and coarsely grated nutmeg with a little cayenne pepper, to taste, and blended the pungent mix with sea salt before pounding it in a mortar to a fine powder. The seasoning salt was passed through a fine sieve and kept in a tightly closed jar in the kitchen to use as required for the wonderfully flavoured dishes of old Provence.In Provence herbs are used medicinally as much as they are in cooking.Provençal cooks also use sage in casseroles of game, and it is of course one of the two principal ingredients for aïgo boulido (sometimes known as soupe à la sauge). But because of its strong, bold flavour when dried it should be used with great care – especially in stuffings for ravioli, chicken, duck and goose, where it is apt to swamp other more delicate flavours.Rosemary, the second of the herbs of the Provençal hills, has a fresh, sweet, pinewoods flavour when newly picked.

Fresh sprigs of rosemary, in conjunction with thin strips of garlic and anchovy, bring out the flavour of roasts of lamb and grills of fresh the fresh sea bream and sea bass from Etang du Thau. The perfect accompaniment with steaks of beef or veal, using the finely chopped leaves of this fragrant herb as you would pepper for a steak au poivre. Simply delicious!