Artichauts à la Barigoule (France,
Provençal)
- Artichokes are sautéed in olive oil
with carrot, onion, and garlic, then braised in wine.
- Bouillabaisse (France,
Provençal)
- The famous stew is made with a mixture of fresh fish and seafood, white
wine, olive oil, tomatoes, garlic, onion, saffron, and fresh herbs. It
is served over thick pieces of French bread.
- Bourride (France, Riviera)
- A combination of white fish (bones and all) is cooked into a
rich stock with vegetables, wine and herbs. Aioli (garlic-infused
mayonnaise) is whisked into the stock, and the creamy
soup is served en croûte(in a hollowed, toasted hunk of
bread). Fish fillets may be poached in the stock. They would be removed before adding the aioli, and eaten
alongside the soup.
- Cassoulet (France,
Languedoc)
- This famous dish, unusual in its use of animal fats instead of
olive oil, has relatives in the bean and sausage dishes of Spain
(especially Catalonia). Cassoulet slowly cooks white beans with
sausage and a combination of meats including duck, goose, bacon,
and mutton. Animal fat and beans, natural friends, are the heart
of this dish that has many different faces depending on who's
stirring the pot.
- Linguine alla Puttanesca (Italy)
- Like much Italian cooking, the simplicity of this dish is
precisely its sophistication. Pasta is topped with a sauce of
olive oil, capers, garlic, olives, anchovies, basil, and tomato.
- Paella (Spain)
- Named for the shallow pan in which it is made, a paellera,
this rice dish is a hallmark of Spanish cooking. Medium-grain
rice is cooked in a shallow, open pan with sautéd and spiced
beans and meats. One can use pork, lamb, chicken, or fish and
shellfish. Saffron, rosemary, and wine lend color and aroma.
- Pato con Peras (Spain)
- Duck is braised in a sauce made from a purée of pears,
cinnamon, onion, carrots, brandy, and stock. Poached pears
accompany the meat.
- Pesce alla Marinara (Italy)
- White fish is poached in a tomato sauce made with fresh plum
tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, and parsley.
- Pissaladiere (France, Niçoise)
- This French relative of the pizza is a classic onion tart. A
simple yeasted bread dough is spread with ample amounts of sautéed
onion, and topped with anchovies, either whole or in a paste, known as
pissala. A sprinkling of calamata olives completes the tart,
which is then baked in a brick oven.
- Zarzeula de Pescado (Spain, Catalan)
- This spectacular stew overflows with fish, clams, shrimp,
lobster, squid, and mussels. The fish and the shellfish (still in
shells) are cooked seperately in oil and combined in a casserole. Then the
seafood is doused with brandy and tossed, first with a tomato and onion
sauce, then with a picada sauce of garlic, almond and bread. The stew is
showered with fresh parsley.
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