GARLIC IS IN THE AIR…IT MUST BE AÏOLI TIME!

When the weather gets hot, our mortar and pestle becomes a fixture on the kitchen table. The familiar rhythmic sound of pestle-striking-mortar fills the air and the pungent aroma of garlic wafts through the house. Aïoli. It's aïoli time. The word, aïoli, comes from the French word for garlic--ail--and the Occitan word for oil—òli—the two primary ingredients in this deliciously simple Provençal dish. So ubiquitous is this sauce on tables in Provence that it is also known as "the butter of Proven...
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BOUILLABAISSE, ROSÉ, AND RECIPES FOR THE ART OF LIVING IN PROVENCE

Today's post is coordinated with my friend David's current Cocoa & Lavender post. David and I each chose a recipe from Provence Food and Wine: The Art of Living, a new cookbook by François Millo and Viktorija Todorovska. I went with the main meal and David went with dessert, a Tarte au Citron. "Bouillabaisse is a party," said Viktorija Todorovska*. "It creates a party." Yes it does! This luscious "fish stew" may have come from humble origins--it was a "plat des pauvres," said François Mi...
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