A taste of Provence

Whether eaten as an appetiser before dinner, as a light lunch, or as a bar snack with a cold drink, the pissaladière is a fiesta of flavours. The caramelised onions provide the sweetness, the puff pasty brings buttery richness, while the anchovies provide their salty punch. A light tomato base, meanwhile, blends it all together.

But as well as taste, it’s the appearance of the pissaladière that is a signature feature. The slivers of anchovy are often arranged in a pretty, diamond grid pattern on the top of the pissaladière with each square containing a black olive. One glimpse of this familiar lattice tart at a French bistro in Provence and you’ll be ordering one tout de suite.

The ridiculously pretty region of Provence is one of the most popular for holidaymakers travelling to France. Most tourists start in Nice and its famous Promenade des Anglais, before cruising through the glamorous hotspots of St Tropez, Cannes and Monte-Carlo. But it’s inland, away from the yachts, gold watches and sports cars, where the rustic Provence can be found.

Beautiful little towns such as Menerbes, Gordes, Lourmarin, L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue and St Paul de Vence are so picturesque you wonder if they are real and haven’t been painted on a canvas by the French tourism board. Provence’s landscapes, with their trademark fields of lavender, attracted Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cezanne, Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso to live and paint there for many years. These small villages are filled with winding streets, cafes and bistros serving simple and rustic French cuisine, including the treasured pissaladière.

Izu Ani is executive chef at Carine, within Emirates Golf Club. He has lived and worked in France and has a long-standing love affair with Provence. The first time Ani ate pissaladière, he remembers it being “striking and very intense” and is clear about the secret of the dish: “Good, sweet onions, good anchovies, a very light dough and good olive oil to saute the onions. There are a limited number of ingredients so every one of them has to be good quality.”

Explaining why he feels the dish works so well, Ani continues, “The sweetness of the onion balances out and mixes with the olives and the saltiness of the anchovies – it’s just an amazing combination.”

It was a restaurant experience in Provence that led acclaimed chef Heston Blumenthal to embark on a career in cooking. The Brit now lives in the region, about which he says, “It’s so bright. There’s a reason Van Gogh was there. The light! And Picasso. And the ground is so fertile.”

Provence is famous for other dishes such as the blockbuster fish stew bouillabaisse and the world-renowned salade Nicoise, the ingredients of which are fiercely debated but which usually include tuna, green beans, crunchy lettuce, potato, hard boiled egg and olives.

Tapenade, like the pissaladière, contains black olives and anchovies and is another iconic Provencal dish, as is the slow-cooked vegetable casserole, ratatouille, that consists of tomato, onion, courgette, aubergine, pepper, garlic and herbs. For those with a sweet tooth, nougat is a speciality of the Provence region and comes in many flavours.

With so many scenic destinations to see, plus an even greater number of typically French delicacies to choose from, a trip to Provence is a delight for the senses – just make sure you don’t leave without ordering a pissaladière.