Bon Appétit, Provence by Solange Hando
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La Bastide de Moustiers
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“This is all tarragon,’ explained Laurent, ‘forty-two thousand plants, we put them in last week.”
We stared in wonder at the vast ochre field which would soon turn into a sea of green and add its fragrance to the myriad herbs of Upper Provence. Wild orchids peeped through tall grasses along the trail and in the distance, the Lure mountain rose to over 1800 metres, its barren summit glistening like snow.
Keen to discover the roots of Provençal cuisine, we had joined an ‘Itinéraire paysan’, one of a dozen walks led by local farmers eager to share their knowledge of the land. Cheese making, olive or wine growing, goat herding, herbs, honey, truffles, each outing follows a theme through farmland or wilderness, with a chance to taste and buy authentic products. It was the perfect introduction to the culinary delights of our holiday region.
Southern flavours
“Provence? It’s all about herbs and olive oil and lots of fresh vegetables.”
Madame was right, her market stall brimmed with colour and fragrance, purple artichokes, wild mushrooms, fennel, radish with their leaves on, masses of green beans and the plumpest tomatoes we’d ever seen. Planning a typical ‘ratatouille’ for dinner, we chose the biggest, alongside garlic, peppers, courgettes and aubergines, for a fraction of the cost at home, then Madame popped a couple of extras in the bag. “Enjoy it,” she said, “it’s the best food in the world.”
We loved it, the juicy flavours and bright colours, the aromatic plants freshly picked from the garden or in the wild. Up in the hills where our villa nestled among the poppy fields, there was rosemary and thyme, sage, oregano and more and we could gather our own ‘bouquet garni’ in no time at all. We mixed and matched to suit the dish or the mood of the day but the highlight was a drizzle of lavender honey, straight from the farm, on a crisp green salad.
At the eco-museum in Volx, we learned about olives and tasted different oils like real experts, here a touch of apple, there almond or was it cocoa? Near the pretty hilltop village of Lurs overlooking the Durance valley, the olive trees were in bloom, their pale clusters of tiny flowers promising a generous winter crop. Did you know that black and green olives are the same fruit, the colour depending on harvesting time? We made good use of the local Aglandau oil which gave a smooth golden glow to all our vegetables and salads. It looked good, tasted good and felt good since our guide had listed eight health-giving properties, covering almost every part of the human body.
Herbs and olives aside, Haute-Provence has a flattering range of award-winning products, among them the succulent farmhouse lamb from Sisteron and my favourite treat, goat’s cheese from Banon, wrapped in chestnut leaves to keep it fresh. Although beef in red wine (Daube) appears on the menu, the sparse hill pastures are best suited to sheep and goats. Dessert? Peaches, nectarines, apricots, melons, cherries and apples from the Upper Durance - who wants to look beyond the fruit stalls? We were tempted, now and then, ringing the changes with lavender ice cream, cherry cake, chocolate truffles or almond biscuits.
Raise your glass
Red wine is good for you, they say, but how about Rosé de Provence? With all this sunshine and fragrance, we decided that was good too. The subtle taste of Rosé is well suited to the strong flavours of the local cuisine but from Côtes du Ventoux and Lubéron to Côteaux de Pierrevert and Côtes de Provence, you will also find some delicious whites and powerful reds. The rich variety of grapes, soil and micro-climates accounts for the choice, heaven for wine lovers. We liked the whites from Cassis on the coast, with a hint of rosemary perfect with fish.
Like the olives, vines came to Provence with the Greeks but the iconic Pastis is barely 100 years old, rising to fame when absinthe was banned for its lethal effect. Aniseed and many other plants combine to create ‘the little yellow drink’ but to release all their flavours, it is important to dilute your Pastis before adding the ice cubes. In Forcalquier, we sampled flowery and fruity apéritifs, thyme, gentian, poppy and lavender. It felt like a walk through sun-drenched countryside, so we added a peach-flavoured ‘Rinquinquin’ to our growing collection of goodies to take home.
Festive mood
Farmers at heart, the people of Haute-Provence are proud of their land and the food they grow, and whatever the time of year, they are ready to celebrate the latest harvest. Banon is all about cheese, Lurs olives, and there are truffle, honey and wine fêtes, a ‘flavours and fragrance’ week around Forcalquiers in September and popular lavender festivals all over the plateau in mid-July.
The exact harvest time depends on the weather, but you can expect dazzling floats, all purple and blue, bustling farmers’ markets and scented displays of lavender craft, from dried flowers and essential oils to soap and honey. Today ‘fine lavender’ is creeping into the kitchen where you can sprinkle it in small doses on almost anything. The local chefs love it, praising its “floral, slightly sweet and elegant flavour.”
Meanwhile, around the summer solstice, Riez la Romaine celebrates the ‘fête de la transhumance’ when shepherds lead their flocks through the village on their way to the high summer pastures. There are traditional carts and donkeys, folk musicians and dancers, all sorts of local produce to sample, lots of cheese and wool products, shearing demonstrations and a giant barbecue. It may be crowded but it’s rural Provence at its best.
Where shall we eat?
Every Monday, the medieval village of Forcalquier holds the largest farmers’ market in the region, enough to tempt anyone and fill your villa with the most gorgeous produce. But the sun was shining, the sky was blue and I was soon sorting out what we could take on a picnic, tomatoes, olives, lavender pâté, melon, cheese, honey, a baguette or two.
Now we were ready to explore the luminous plateau of Valensole where the new lavender was about to bloom, the cool forests of oak, chestnut and beech, the almond and olive groves and the dry stony highlands sprinkled with shepherds’ huts. We sat on a slope fringed in golden broom and, with a glass or two of Rosé wine, we enjoyed a feast worthy of the gods.
In the evenings, we dined al fresco as the sun set over the hills. Cicadas hummed in the trees, herbs and plants filled the night with fragrance. Cooking a tasty Provençal meal was surprisingly easy and quick but sometimes we wandered down to a ‘bistrot de pays’ – bar, restaurant and corner shop all in one, designed to keep small villages alive. Bistrot or table d’hôte, the welcome is always genuine; meals are excellent and prices reasonable.
“Cooking is my passion,” enthused Michèle, owner and chef in Hameau de Pichovet, “I love the flavours of Provence, the fresh produce; it’s a return to nature. We have so much here, I want to share it all.”
Most of all, we remember the warm goat’s cheese salad with olive oil and honey, the juicy lamb on a bed of courgettes and spelt wheat followed by basil ice cream with peaches and almond ‘tuile’, a thin crispy biscuit curved like a tile on a Provençal roof. Outside, children splashed around the fountain, cats dozed in cobbled lanes draped in roses and valerian and after the siesta, the men gathered on the square for a traditional game of pétanque.