Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur

Cake with grapes, named after the town in the Vaucluse

Calissons are a traditional French candy consisting of a smooth, pale yellow, homogeneous paste of candied fruit and ground almonds topped with a thin layer of royal icing. They have a texture similar to that of marzipan, but with a fruitier, distinctly melon-like flavour. They are often almond-shaped and are typically about five centimeters (two inches) in length. Calissons are traditionally associated with the town of Aix-en-Provence, France, and most of the world's supply is still made in the Provence region.

Fried dough

Cherry and almond tart

Cake of kings (king cake) with glazed fruit

A gibassier is a French pastry from Provence, a galette made with fruited olive oil. It is generally spiced with anise, candied orange peel, and orange flower water, and dusted with baker's sugar. The gibassier is often confused with the pompe à l'huile ( pronounced [pɔ̃p alɥil]; Occitan: poumpo à l'oli, pompa a l'òli, literally "oil pump"), but these are distinct dishes. The pompe à l'huile is more moist and is raised. It is part of the thirteen desserts of a Provençal Christmas, which is the only time of year that it is produced whereas the gibassier is drier, pierced with holes, and is a pastry made year-round for everyday consumption. Both replace butter with olive oil as butter is not traditionally used in Provence whereas olive oil is readily found. Moreover, with olive oil, the pastries can be kept longer without drying than with butter. According to the great dictionary of Occitan Lou Tresor dóu Felibrige, by Frédéric Mistral, the pompe is a « fouace, galette, gâteau que l'on envoie en présent aux fêtes de Noël » (a fouace, airy bread cognate to focaccia, galette, sent as a present on Christmas time) while gibassié is a « gâteau à jour, une galette percée de trous, un craquelin » (a cake, galette pierced with holes, a type of craquelin).

Boat-shaped cookies flavored with orange blossom water

A palmier , pig's ear, palm heart, or elephant ear is a French pastry in a palm leaf shape or a butterfly shape, sometimes called palm leaves, cœur de France, French hearts, shoe-soles, or glasses, that were invented in the beginning of the 20th century. Palmiers are made from puff pastry, a laminated dough similar to the dough used for croissant, but without yeast. The puff pastry is rolled out, coated with sugar, and then the two sides are rolled up together so that they meet in the middle, making a roll that is then cut into about 1⁄4 in (6 mm) slices and baked. Usually it is rolled in sugar before baking. The pastries are known as palmeras ("palm trees") in Spain, and they can be topped with coconut or chocolate; they are also available for purchase in a larger version. In the Puerto Rican version, they are topped with honey. In Mexico and other Latin American countries they are known as orejas ("ears") or orejitas ("Little ears"). In Colombia they are known as mariposas ("butterflies"). In Argentina and Chile, they are known as palmeritas, derivative from the Spanish denomination.

Tarte tropézienne, also known as "la tarte de Saint-Tropez", is a dessert pastry consisting of a halved brioche filled with a mix of two creams, thick pastry cream and buttercream, and topped with pearl sugar. It was created in 1955 by Polish confectioner Alexandre Micka, a pâtisserie owner in Saint-Tropez, where he moved in 1945 just after the war. Micka adapted a family recipe (the legend says it was his grandmother's recipe) to create the first version of tarte tropézienne in 1952. A few years later, actress Brigitte Bardot developed a taste for the pastries while she was in Saint-Tropez filming And God Created Woman. and it was in fact she who suggested the name, which Micka registered as a trademark in 1973. Micka's original shop, La Tarte Tropézienne, still exists. Since the 1970s, the same dessert has also been popular in Prague, where it is known as the "Prague cake" (pražský koláč). It is not known whether this cake was baked in Bohemia earlier than in France.

The thirteen desserts are the traditional dessert foods used to celebrate Christmas in the French region of Provence. The "big supper" (le gros souper) ends with a ritual 13 desserts, representing Jesus Christ and the 12 apostles. The desserts always number thirteen but the exact items vary by local or familial tradition. The food traditionally is set out Christmas Eve and remains on the table three days until December 27. The first four of these are known as the "four beggars" (les quatre mendiants), representing the four mendicant monastic orders: Dominicans, Franciscans, Augustinians and Carmelites. Bayle St. John, writing in The Purple Tints of Paris (vol. 2) "The dishes are substantial; soup, boiled beef, veal, salad, cheese, apples, and what are called, for some mysterious reason, the four beggars — nuts, figs, almonds, and raisins, mixed together."

Châteauneuf-du-Pape is a French wine, an Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) located around the village of Châteauneuf-du-Pape in the Rhône wine region in southeastern France. It is one of the most renowned appellations of the southern part in the Rhône Valley, and its vineyards are located around Châteauneuf-du-Pape and in neighboring villages, Bédarrides, Courthézon and Sorgues, between Avignon and Orange. They cover slightly more than 3,200 hectares or 7,900 acres (32 km2) and produce over 110,000 hectolitres of wine a year, more wine made in this one area of the southern Rhône than in all of the northern Rhône. Châteauneuf-du-Pape literally translates to "The Pope's new castle" and, indeed, the history of this appellation is firmly entwined with papal history. In 1309, Pope Clement V, former Archbishop of Bordeaux, relocated the papacy to the town of Avignon. Clement V and subsequent "Avignon Popes" were said to be great lovers of Burgundy wines and did much to promote them during the 70-year Avignon Papacy.[citation needed] At the time, wine-growing around the town of Avignon was anything but illustrious. While the Avignon Papacy did much to advance the reputation of Burgundy wines, they also promoted viticulture of the surrounding area, more specifically the area 5–10 km (3–6 mi) north of Avignon close to the banks of the Rhône. Prior to the Avignon Papacy, viticulture of that area had been initiated and maintained by the Bishops of Avignon but largely for local consumption.[citation needed]

Génépi or génépy is a traditional herbal liqueur or apéritif popularized in the Alpine regions. Genepi also refers to alpine plants of the genus Artemisia (commonly called wormwood) that is used to make a liqueur in the French region of Savoy, where the Artemisia génépi plants grow and where the beverage is commonly produced. Génépi liqueur is related to absinthe in that its namesake botanicals are of the genus Artemisia, but like Chartreuse, it is a liqueur (contains sugar) and traditionally taken neat. Like many European herbal liqueurs, especially those used as digestifs, the flavor of génépi can be an acquired taste. It is less sweet than many digestifs, and the flavor imparted by the herbs is reminiscent of chamomile or feverfew. It is naturally light olive to pale gold in color. Cheaper versions may be made bright green through the addition of food coloring.

Provence wine (Occitan: viña) comes from the French wine-producing region of Provence in southeast France. The Romans called the area provincia nostra ("our province"), giving the region its name. Just south of the Alps, it was the first Roman province outside Italy. Wine has been made in this region for at least 2,600 years, ever since the ancient Greeks founded the city of Marseille in 600 BC. Throughout the region's history, viticulture and winemaking have been influenced by the cultures that have been present in Provence, which include the Ancient Greeks, Romans, Gauls, Catalans and Savoyards. These diverse groups introduced a large variety of grapes to the region, including grape varieties of Greek and Roman origin as well as Spanish, Italian and traditional French wine grapes. Today the region is known predominantly for its rosé wine, though wine critics such as Tom Stevenson believe that region's best wines are the spicy, full-flavoured red wines. Rosé wine currently accounts for more than half of the production of Provençal wine, with red wine accounting for about a third of the region's production. White wine is also produced in small quantities throughout the region with the Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) region of Cassis specializing in white wine production. The Côtes de Provence is the largest AOC followed by the Coteaux d'Aix-en-Provence. The Bandol region near Toulon is one of the more internationally recognized Provençal wine regions.

Lambs reared in Sisteron, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France

Artichokes braised in white wine and olive oil, may also include mushrooms

Bouillabaisse s] ⓘ; Provençal: bolhabaissa [ˌbuʎaˈβajsɔ, ˌbujaˈbajsɔ]) is a traditional Provençal fish soup originating in the port city of Marseille. The word is originally a compound of the two Provençal verbs bolhir ('to boil') and abaissar ('to reduce heat', i.e. 'simmer'). Bouillabaisse was originally a dish made by Marseille fishermen, using bony rockfish, which they were unable to sell to restaurants or markets. There are at least three kinds of fish in a traditional bouillabaisse: typically red rascasse (Scorpaena scrofa); sea robin; and European conger. It can also include gilt-head bream, turbot, monkfish, mullet, or European hake. It usually also includes shellfish and other seafood such as sea urchins, mussels, velvet crabs, spider crabs, or octopus. More expensive versions may add langoustine (Dublin Bay prawn; Norway lobster), though this was not part of the traditional dish made by Marseille fishermen. Vegetables such as leeks, onions, tomatoes, celery, and potatoes are simmered together with the broth and served with the fish. The broth is traditionally served with rouille, a mayonnaise made of olive oil, garlic, saffron, and cayenne pepper, on grilled slices of bread. What makes a bouillabaisse different from other fish soups is the selection of Provençal herbs and spices in the broth; the use of bony local Mediterranean fish; the way the fish are added one at a time, and brought to a boil; and the method of serving. In Marseille, the broth is served first in a soup plate with slices of bread and rouille, then the fish is served separately on a large platter (see image at top); or, more simply, as Julia Child suggests, the fish and broth are brought to the table separately and served together in large soup plates.

Bourride is a culinary specialty traditional to cuisine of Provence and Languedoc, based on fish, seafood, and vegetables, served with aïoli and olive oil. A variant of bouillabaisse or fish soup à la Sétoise, this fish soup, originally from Provence and Languedoc, is particularly popular in Toulon (Var) and Agde (Hérault). The word bourride comes from provençal bourrido (borrida in classical norm of occitan language), which was derived from bouri/bouli (borit/bolit), boiled, in english. This recipe is prepared with white fish or Mediterranean seafood, such as mullet, mackerel, sea bass, whiting, conger eel, sea robin, sea bream, cod, turbot, le poisson de St Pierre, or monkfish (for bourride à la Sétoise), a brunoise of vegetables (celery, fennel, leeks, carrots, onions, bouquet garni, possibly with white wine), and aïoli.

The Camargue is a breed of domestic cattle native to the Camargue marshlands of the river delta of the Rhône in southern France. It is used for the traditional sport of course camarguaise, a kind of bloodless bull-fight, but not for the corrida, Iberian-style bull-fighting. It is one of two cattle breeds raised in semi-feral conditions in the Camargue; the other is the Brava or Race de Combat, a fighting breed. Since 1996, it has been officially known as the Provençal: Raço di Biòu. The Raço di Biòu has long been raised in semi-feral conditions in the wetlands of the Camargue, in the département of Bouches-du-Rhône in the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, and of the Petite Camargue, in the département of Gard in the region of Occitanie. It is one of two cattle breeds raised in the area, the other being the Brava or Race de Combat, a fighting breed. Both are associated with the rural and cultural traditions of the Camargue, including the gardians – mounted herders who manage the livestock in manades – and the small white Camargue horses that they ride.

Daube is a French slow-cooked stew, usually of beef, but other meat is sometimes used. The best-known is the bœuf en daube à la provençale, a Provençal stew made with cheaper cuts of beef braised in wine, with vegetables, garlic and herbs, and traditionally cooked in a daubière–a braising pot. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a daube as "A braised meat (usually beef) stew with wine, spices, etc". In The Oxford Companion to Food, Philip and Mary Hyman note that the word is a French culinary term indicating both a method of cooking and a type of dish. The Dictionnaire de l'Académie française dates the word to the 16th century, and says that it derives from the Occitan dobba, a marinade. In the 18th century, daubes were a specialty of the French town of Saint-Malo. The Hymans comment that there were many different types: "artichokes en daube, celery, pork cutlets, goose— all these and many other foodstuffs besides were prepared en daube". Most were made to be eaten cold. Daubes remained popular in 19th-century France, but by then, they were nearly always meat dishes, usually beef, eaten hot. By the end of the 20th century, the term was largely confined to bœuf en daube. The dish came to be seen as rustic and old-fashioned, and the copper pots—daubières—in which it was traditionally cooked became "a curiosity in antique markets".

Cuttlefish stuffed with sausage and herbs

Escabeche is the name for several dishes in Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, Filipino and Latin American cuisines, consisting of marinated fish, meat or vegetables, cooked or pickled in an acidic sauce , and flavored with paprika, citrus, and other spices. In Spain and throughout the Americas, many variations exist, including frying the main ingredient before marinating it. Escabeche of seafood, fish, chicken, rabbit, pork, and vegetables are common in Spain, the Caribbean and Portugal. Eggplant escabeche is common in Argentina. The Spanish and Portuguese word escabeche originates from Andalusi Arabic (spoken in Muslim Iberia) and ultimately Persian. It is derived from al-skepaj (السكباج), the name of a popular meat dish cooked in a sweet-and-sour sauce, usually containing vinegar and honey or date molasses. This technique spread throughout the former Portuguese and Spanish Empires and is particularly common in Latin America and the Philippines.

Many species of fish are caught by humans and consumed as food in virtually all regions around the world. Fish has been an important dietary source of protein and other nutrients. The English language does not have a special culinary name for food prepared from fish like with other animals , or as in other languages (such as Spanish pez vs. pescado). In culinary and fishery contexts, fish may include so-called shellfish such as molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms; more expansively, seafood covers both fish and other marine life used as food. Since 1961, the average annual increase in global apparent food fish consumption (3.2 percent) has outpaced population growth (1.6 percent) and exceeded consumption of meat from all terrestrial animals, combined (2.8 percent) and individually (bovine, ovine, porcine, etc.), except poultry (4.9 percent). In per capita terms, food fish consumption has grown from 9.0 kg (19.8 lb) in 1961 to 20.2 kg (45 lb) in 2015, at an average rate of about 1.5 percent per year. The expansion in consumption has been driven not only by increased production, but also by a combination of many other factors, including reduced wastage, better utilization, improved distribution channels and growing consumer demand, linked with population growth, rising disposable incomes and urbanization.

Stuffed zucchini flowers

Beef stewed with red wine, serve with rice

The Merino is a breed or group of breeds of domestic sheep, characterised by very fine soft wool. It was established in Spain near the end of the Middle Ages, and was for several centuries kept as a strict Spanish monopoly; exports of the breed were not allowed, and those who tried risked capital punishment. During the eighteenth century, flocks were sent to the courts of a number of European countries, including France , Hungary, the Netherlands, Prussia, Saxony and Sweden. The Merino subsequently spread to many parts of the world, including South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. They are presently common in South Africa. Numerous recognised breeds, strains and variants have developed from the original type; these include, among others, the American Merino and Delaine Merino in the Americas, the Australian Merino, Booroola Merino and Peppin Merino in Oceania, and the Gentile di Puglia, Merinolandschaf and Rambouillet in Europe.: 861 

Mussel is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, which are often more or less rounded or oval. The word "mussel" is frequently used to mean the bivalves of the marine family Mytilidae, most of which live on exposed shores in the intertidal zone, attached by means of their strong byssal threads ("beard") to a firm substrate. A few species (in the genus Bathymodiolus) have colonised hydrothermal vents associated with deep ocean ridges.

People of several cultures eat octopus. The arms and sometimes other body parts are prepared in various ways, often varying by species and/or geography. Octopuses are sometimes eaten or prepared alive, a practice that is controversial due to scientific evidence that octopuses experience pain. Octopus is a common ingredient in Japanese cuisine, including sushi, sashimi, karaage, stew, sour salad, takoyaki and akashiyaki.

Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not all oysters, are in the superfamily Ostreoidea.

The pan bagnat (pan bagna, and alternatively in French as pain bagnat)[a] is a sandwich that is a specialty of Nice, France. The sandwich is composed of pain de campagne, a whole wheat bread, enclosing a salade niçoise, a salad composed mainly of raw vegetables, hard boiled eggs, anchovies and/or tuna, and olive oil, salt, and pepper. Sometimes vinegar is added, but never mayonnaise. It was historically prepared to use day-old bread. The pan bagnat is a popular dish in the region around Nice where it is sold in most bakeries and markets. Pan bagnat and the salade niçoise (salade nissarda), along with ratatouille (La Ratatouia Nissarda in Provençal), socca and pissaladière are strongly linked to the city of Nice, where they have been developed over time out of local ingredients. It is sometimes served as an hors d'oeuvre.[a] The name of the sandwich comes from the local Provençal language, Nissart, in which pan banhat and the alternative spelling pan bagnat mean "bathed bread". It is sometimes spelled "pain bagnat", mixing the French pain with the Provençal bagnat.

Little stuffed, sausage-stuffed vegetables, for example, zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, onions, potatoes

Focaccia topped with tomatoes, olives, fried onions

Pieds paquets or pied et paquets is a local dish and culinary specialty of Marseille and Sisteron but also commonly found in much of Southeastern France. It consists of sheep's feet and stuffed sheep's tripe stewed together.[need quotation to verify] Writing in 1958, Waverley Root observed that although the packages used to be cooked with calves' feet, that was no longer the case except in Nice, where the dish was called tripes à la niçoise. If using sheep's feet, the hair on them is seared off, then the feet are placed in the bottom of the pot in which the packages will be stewed. To make the packages, sheep's tripe is cleaned and cut into four to eight squares. Each piece is stuffed with onions, parsley, garlic, and salt pork before being rolled and wrapped into a small pouch or package. The stuffed offal is then stewed for several hours in a white wine and tomato sauce.

Pissaladière is a dish of flatbread with toppings from the region of Provence and the French city of Nice. It is often compared to pizza. The dough is usually a bread dough thicker than that of the classic pizza Margherita, and the traditional topping in Nice usually consists of caramelised (almost pureed) onions, black olives (generally caillettes) and anchovies (whole, and sometimes also with pissalat, a type of anchovy paste). The etymology of the word seems to originate from the Latin piscis "fish", which in turn originated pissalat, the name of an anchovy paste (via peis salat, "salted fish" Niçard). The first written recipe was found in a document of the year 879 in Provence. This old recipe included onions and pissalat, confirming that the name derives from this anchovy puré.

Pizza[a] is an Italian dish typically consisting of a flat base of leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomato, cheese, and other ingredients, baked at a high temperature, traditionally in a wood-fired oven. The term pizza was first recorded in 997 AD, in a Latin manuscript from the southern Italian town of Gaeta, in Lazio, on the border with Campania. Raffaele Esposito is often credited for creating the modern pizza in Naples. In 2009, Neapolitan pizza was registered with the European Union as a traditional speciality guaranteed dish. In 2017, the art of making Neapolitan pizza was included on UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage.

Grilled fish

Sautéed chicken and vegetables, similar to chicken cacciatore in Italy

Pike quenelles (dumplings), typically served with sauce Nantua, a crayfish sauce, or sauce mousseline, a cream sauce

Ravioli are a type of stuffed pasta comprising a filling enveloped in thin pasta dough. Usually served in broth or with a sauce, they originated as a traditional food in Italian cuisine. Ravioli are commonly square, though other forms are also used, including circular and semi-circular (mezzelune). Ravioli appear in the 14th-century cookbook The Forme of Cury under the name of rauioles.

Scorpaena scrofa, the red scorpionfish, bigscale scorpionfish, large-scaled scorpion fish, or rascasse is a venomous marine species of ray-finned fish in the family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes. It is found in the Mediterranean Sea, in the eastern Atlantic Ocean and the western Indian Ocean. Scorpaena scrofa was first formally described in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae in which he gave the type localities as the Mediterranean Sea at Rome and Marseille. The specific name scrofa means "a breeding sow" in Latin, presumed to derive from scrofano and scrofanello, which are Italian names for the black scorpionfish and this species, similar to the Old English "hogfish", possible an allusion to Renaissance mistranslations of Athenaeus' observation that scorpionfishes fed on algae or weed, that led to the belief that these fishes live and feed on mud.

Mondeuse noire is a red French wine grape variety that is grown primarily in the Savoy region of eastern France. The grape can also be found in Argentina, Australia, California, Switzerland and Sicily. Plantings of Mondeuse noire was hit hard during the phylloxera epidemic of the mid to late 19th century which nearly wiped out the vine from eastern France. While the grape recovered slightly in the 20th century, French plantations of Mondeuse noire fell sharply in the 1970s, with just over 200 hectares (490 acres) left in France in 2000. In the early 21st century, it seems the variety has increased somewhat in popularity, as it can give good wines if the planting site is chosen carefully. It was previously suggested that Mondeuse noire was identical to the northern Italian wine grape variety Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso due to the similarity of the wines. In California, many plantings of Mondeuse noire were called Refosco, further adding to the confusion. DNA analysis has shown that this is not the case, and that the two varieties are unrelated. Mondeuse noire is very similar to Muscardin which is found in Southern Rhône where it is one of the thirteen grape varieties permitted in the wine Châteauneuf-du-Pape. One difference is that Muscardin has less sensitivity to downy mildew. Ampelographers also thought that Mondeuse noire was a color mutation of Mondeuse blanche but DNA evidence has shown that not to be the case with the two varieties having a parent-offspring relationship though it is not yet clear which variety is the parent and which is the offspring. References to Mondeuse usually are to Mondeuse noire rather than to Mondeuse blanche. Mondeuse noire does have a pink-berried color mutant, Mondeuse grise, which was on the verge of extinction until ampelographer Pierre Galet was able to identify vines and have cuttings planted at the Domaine de Vassal conservation vineyard in Montpellier run by the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA).

Sardine and pilchard are common names for various species of small, oily forage fish in the herring suborder Clupeoidei. The term 'sardine' was first used in English during the early 15th century; a somewhat dubious etymology says it comes from the Italian island of Sardinia, around which sardines were once supposedly abundant. The terms 'sardine' and 'pilchard' are not precise, and what is meant depends on the region. The United Kingdom's Sea Fish Industry Authority, for example, classifies sardines as young pilchards. One criterion suggests fish shorter in length than 15 cm are sardines, and larger fish are pilchards.

Sea bass refers to various species of marine fish, commonly including the European bass and black sea bass. It is popular for its mild flavor and is often used in cooking, with various recipes available for preparation.

Sea urchins or urchins are typically spiny, globular animals, echinoderms in the class Echinoidea. About 950 species live on the seabed, inhabiting all oceans and depth zones from the intertidal to 5,000 metres (16,000 ft; 2,700 fathoms). Their tests (hard shells) are round and spiny, typically from 3 to 10 cm (1 to 4 in) across. Sea urchins move slowly, crawling with their tube feet, and sometimes pushing themselves with their spines. They feed primarily on algae but also eat slow-moving or sessile animals. Their predators include sharks, sea otters, starfish, wolf eels, and triggerfish. Like all echinoderms, adult sea urchins have pentagonal symmetry with their pluteus larvae featuring bilateral (mirror) symmetry; The latter indicates that they belong to the Bilateria, along with chordates, arthropods, annelids and molluscs. Sea urchins are found in every ocean and in every climate, from the tropics to the polar regions, and inhabit marine benthic (sea bed) habitats, from rocky shores to hadal zone depths. The fossil record of the Echinoids dates from the Ordovician period, some 450 million years ago. The closest echinoderm relatives of the sea urchin are the sea cucumbers (Holothuroidea), which like them are deuterostomes, a clade that includes the chordates. (Sand dollars are a separate order in the sea urchin class Echinoidea.)

Seafood is any form of sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of molluscs , crustaceans (e.g. shrimp, crabs, and lobster), and echinoderms (e.g. sea cucumbers and sea urchins). Historically, marine mammals such as cetaceans (whales and dolphins) as well as seals have been eaten as food, though that happens to a lesser extent in modern times. Edible sea plants such as some seaweeds and microalgae are widely eaten as sea vegetables around the world, especially in Asia. Seafood is an important source of (animal) protein in many diets around the world, especially in coastal areas. Semi-vegetarians who consume seafood as the only source of meat are said to adhere to pescetarianism.

Bean and vegetable soup served with pesto

Fish stew

A squid is a mollusc with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight arms, and two tentacles in the orders Myopsida, Oegopsida, and Bathyteuthida (though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also called squid despite not strictly fitting these criteria). Like all other cephalopods, squid have a distinct head, bilateral symmetry, and a mantle. They are mainly soft-bodied, like octopuses, but have a small internal skeleton in the form of a rod-like gladius or pen, made of chitin. Squid diverged from other cephalopods during the Jurassic and occupy a similar role to teleost fish as open water predators of similar size and behaviour. They play an important role in the open water food web. The two long tentacles are used to grab prey and the eight arms to hold and control it. The beak then cuts the food into suitable size chunks for swallowing. Squid are rapid swimmers, moving by jet propulsion, and largely locate their prey by sight. They are among the most intelligent of invertebrates, with groups of Humboldt squid having been observed hunting cooperatively. They are preyed on by sharks, other fish, sea birds, seals and cetaceans, particularly sperm whales.

Bulls reared in Camargue Region, Bouches-du-Rhône, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France

Sautéed veal with olives

Aioli, allioli, or aïoli is a cold sauce consisting of an emulsion of garlic and olive oil; it is found in the cuisines of the northwest Mediterranean. The names mean "garlic and oil" in Catalan and Provençal. It is found in the cuisines of the Mediterranean coasts of Spain (Catalonia, the Valencian Community, the Balearic Islands, Murcia, and eastern Andalusia) and France (Provence, Languedoc, Roussilon). Some versions of the sauce are closer to a garlic mayonnaise, incorporating egg yolks and lemon juice, whereas other versions lack egg yolk and contain more garlic. The latter gives the sauce a pastier texture, making it more laborious to produce as the emulsion is harder to stabilise. There are many variations, such as adding lemon juice or other seasonings. In France, it may include mustard.

Amatriciana sauce, known in Italian as amatriciana , is a sauce made with tomatoes, guanciale (cured pork cheek), pecorino romano cheese, black pepper, extra virgin olive oil, dry white wine, and salt. Originating in the comune (municipality) of Amatrice (in the mountainous province of Rieti of the Lazio region), the amatriciana is one of the best known pasta sauces in present-day Roman and Italian cuisine. The Italian government has named it a prodotto agroalimentare tradizionale (PAT) of Lazio, and amatriciana tradizionale is registered as a traditional speciality guaranteed (TSG) in the EU and the UK. Amatriciana derives from a dish called pasta alla gricia. The origin of the word gricia is unclear. In papal Rome, the grici were sellers of common edible foods, who got this name because many of them came from Valtellina, at that time a possession of the Swiss canton of Grigioni. According to another hypothesis, it is named after the frazione (hamlet) of Grisciano, in the comune (municipality) of Accumoli, near Amatrice. The sauce—nowadays named also amatriciana bianca—was, and still is, prepared with guanciale (cured pork cheek) and grated pecorino romano. At some point, a little olive oil was added to the recipe. In the 1960s, amatriciana sauce was still prepared in this way in Amatrice itself.

A spread made of anchovies, garlic, olive oil, serve on toast, as a dip

Banon is a French cheese made in the region around the town of Banon in Provence, south-east France. Also known as Banon à la feuille, it is an unpasteurized cheese made from goat's milk and is circular in shape, around 7 cm in diameter and 2.5 cm (0.98 in) in height, and weighing around 100 g. This pungent uncooked, unpressed cheese consists of a fine soft white pâte that is wrapped in chestnut leaves and tied with raffia prior to shipment. The Provençal specialty fromage fort du Mont Ventoux is created by placing a young banon in an earthenware jar. The cheese is then seasoned with salt and pepper, doused in vinegar and eau-de-vie and left in a cool cellar to ferment. The concoction will develop an increasingly fierce taste capable of lasting for many years .

Lemons grown in Menton, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France of the Adamo, Cerza, Eureka, Menton and Santa Teresa varieties

Spelt flour from Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France

Figs grown in Solliès-Pont, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France

In French cuisine, fougasse is a type of bread typically associated with Provence but found (with variations) in other regions. Some versions are sculpted or slashed into a pattern resembling a head of wheat. In ancient Rome, panis focacius was a flatbread baked in the ashes of the hearth (focus in Latin). This eventually became a diverse variety of breads that include focaccia in Italian cuisine, hogaza in Spain, fogassa in Catalonia, fugàssa in Ligurian, pogača in the Balkans, pogácsa in Hungary, fougasse in Provence (originally spelled fogatza), and fouace or fouée in other regions of France and on the Channel Islands. The Provence version is more likely to have additions like olives, cheese, garlic or anchovies. Portugal is also home to fogaça, a sweet bread. In Brazil, pão sovado is a typical big fougasse, while a recipe called pão suíço is common to the states of Rio de Janeiro, Espírito Santo and surrounding regions. Pão suíço can be thought of as a halfway point between fougasse and bolillo, somewhat resembling a savory small brioche. They are perhaps the sweetest of savory artisanal bread recipes commonly made in Brazil.

Apricots, cherries, grapes, melons, peaches, strawberries

Provencal spinach gratin, pasta gratin with spinach

Olive oil made with Aglandau, Cayanne and Salonenque olives, from Bouches-du-Rhône and Var, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France

Olive oil produced in Alpes de Haute-Provence, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France

Olive oil produced in Bouches-du-Rhône, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France

Olive oil produced in Alpes-Maritimes, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France

Miel de Provence is protected by a Label Rouge (Red Label) associated to a protected geographical indication both for the all flowers honey and for the lavender and lavandin honey From 14 November 2005, the IGP ("Protected Geographical Indication") "Miel de Provence" is recorded in the European range of IGPs and AOPs (Appellation d'Origine Protégée, meaning "Protected Designation Origin"). Ever since, the name "Provence", applied to honey, is protected and reserved for traders who comply with IGP specifications and/or the technical baseline quality sign which are associated with them. A decree signed on 30 July 2009, and relative to the Red Label award associated to a Protected Geographical Indication for Provence honey was published in the Journal Officiel (n°0195, 25 August 2009). Beekeeping brings together many producers. Some estimated 4500 whose 700 own between 70 and 150 beehives. The area numbers many professional beekeepers : more than 300 own at least 150 hives. Production in that area amounts to 2000 tons per year (this being 8% of the national production). Many of these beekeepers practice transhumance along a route going from the coastline towards Haute-Provence, across the Southern Alps. Some of them practice transhumance bringing their own beehives on the areas of production of acacia, chestnut and fir honey into the Rhône valley and beyond. In Provence, summer is the privileged season for lavender honey production, and hives are set up on an area limited in the North by the line Montélimar/Digne, and in the South by the Mont Ventoux, the plateau d'Albion [fr], the mountain of Lure, the Vaucluse Mountains, and the Luberon. In the department of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, lavender honey is produced in the Banon sector and on the plateau of Valensole. All flowers honey is elaborated on a wide area delimited by Nîmes, Montélimar, Gap, Digne, Nice, Toulon, Marseille and Avignon. But other great amounts of honey are produced by beekeepers in the guarrigue (rosemary and thyme honey), or in the maquis (heather and arbutus honey).

Morchella, the true morels, is a genus of edible sac fungi closely related to anatomically simpler cup fungi in the order Pezizales . These distinctive fungi have a honeycomb appearance due to the network of ridges with pits composing their caps. Morels are prized by gourmet cooks, particularly in Catalan and French cuisine, but can be toxic if consumed raw or undercooked. Due to difficulties in cultivation, commercial harvesting of wild morels has become a multimillion-dollar industry in the temperate Northern Hemisphere, in particular North America, Turkey, China, the Himalayas, India, and Pakistan where these highly prized fungi are found in abundance. Typified by Morchella esculenta in 1794, the genus has been the source of considerable taxonomical controversy throughout the years, mostly with regard to the number of species involved, with some mycologists recognising as few as three species and others over thirty. Current molecular phylogenetics suggest there might be over seventy species of Morchella worldwide, most of them exhibiting high continental endemism and provincialism.

Muscat de Hambourg tavle grape grown in Vaucluse, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France

Cailletier olive products from Alpes-Maritimes, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France

Broken Béruguette or Salonenque olives flavored with fennel, from Bouches-du-Rhône, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France

Grossane olives grown in Bouches-du-Rhône, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France

Beignet, common during Christmas and carnival

Pain de campagne , also called "French sourdough", is typically a large round loaf ("miche") made from either natural leavening or baker's yeast. Most traditional versions of this bread are made with a combination of white flour with whole wheat flour and/or rye flour, water, leavening and salt. For centuries, French villages had communal ovens where the townsfolk would bring their dough to be baked, and the loaves weighed from 1.5 to 5.5 kilograms (3–12 lb). Such large loaves would feed a family for days or weeks, until the next baking day. Before the advent of roller milling, virtually all wheat was milled by stone grinding. In order to produce a lighter, less chewy bread, the whole wheat flour was sifted or bolted using mesh or cloth. This resulted in a whiter flour that still retained some of the bran and germ. The addition of rye flour in some recipes probably originates from the presence of rye growing among the wheat. All the grain was harvested together, and as much as 10 percent of it would be rye. Rye flour ferments more quickly than wheat flour, and it imparts a distinctive flavor to traditional pains de campagne. With the rise of commercial yeast at the turn of the 20th century, pain de campagne fell out of favor in French cities, where it was replaced by the baguette. However, with the rise of artisan breads in the 1970s, pain de campagne has been growing in popularity, both in Europe and the US.

Chickpea fries

Country pâté, serve with bread and wine

Spelt, grown in Haute Provence, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France

Gala, Golden Delicious and cross-breed apples grown in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France

Pommes soufflées are a variety of French fried potato. Slices of potato are fried twice, once at 150 °C and a second time after being cooled, at 190 °C (374 °F). The potato slices puff up into little pillows during the second frying and turn golden brown. Pommes soufflées were, according to a famous legend, discovered by chance on 24 August 1837, when Queen Marie-Amélie and other notables were delayed in their arrival for a meal at the Pavillon Henri IV [fr] in Yvelines after inaugurating the first passenger steam-powered railway in Paris, France. Chef Jean-Louis-François Collinet, reputedly also the inventor of sauce béarnaise, removed the potatoes from the fryer half cooked. After the royal party had arrived, during serving time, he observed the potatoes expand when they were returned to the oil. This story has been disputed on a number of grounds.

Rice grown in Camargue, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France

Red rice of Camargue

Salade mesclun is a mix of young salad greens that originated in Provence, France, typically including ingredients like chervil, arugula, leafy lettuces, and endive. It is known for its delicate flavors and is often served with a light vinaigrette dressing.

Salade niçoise is a salad that originated in the French city of Nice. It is traditionally made of tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs, Niçoise olives and anchovies or tuna, dressed with olive oil, or in some historical versions, a vinaigrette. It has been popular worldwide since the early 20th century, and has been prepared and discussed by many chefs. Delia Smith called it "one of the best combinations of salad ingredients ever invented" and Gordon Ramsay said that "it must be the finest summer salad of all". Salade niçoise can be served either as a composed salad or as a tossed salad. Freshly cooked or canned tuna may be added. For decades, traditionalists and innovators have disagreed over which ingredients should be included; traditionalists exclude cooked vegetables. The salad may include raw red peppers, shallots, artichoke hearts and other seasonal raw vegetables. Raw green beans harvested in the spring, when they are still young and crisp, may be included. However, cooked green beans and potatoes are commonly served in variations of salade niçoise that are popular around the world.

Farinata , socca ( Occitan: [suˈka]), farinata di ceci, torta di ceci, fainé, fainá, cecìna or cade is a type of thin, unleavened pancake or crêpe made from chickpea flour. Farinata is a typical preparation of the northwest Mediterranean coast; in Liguria it is named farinata, in Nice socca and in Toulon cade.

Tapenade is a Provençal name for a spread, condiment and culinary ingredient consisting of puréed or finely chopped olives, capers, and sometimes anchovies. The name comes from the Provençal word for capers, tapenas ( pronounced [taˈpenɔs]). It is a popular food in the south of France, where it is generally eaten as an hors d'œuvre spread on bread, with fish, in salads, and sometimes used to stuff poultry for the main course. Olive-based dishes can be found in ancient times. For example, Olivarum conditurae in Columella's De re Rustica and epityrum from Cato the Elder were Greek dips adopted by the Romans that included olives but also many ingredients like celery, leeks, rue, mint, wine and vinegar. Tapenade is based mainly on capers and olives.

Thyme grown in Provence, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France

Tomatoes stuffed with a seasoned mixture of Crangon crangon grey shrimp and mayonnaise, can also be served with fries/frites as a main dish, serve with beer

A truffle is the fruiting body of a subterranean ascomycete fungus, one of the species of the genus Tuber. More than one hundred other genera of fungi are classified as truffles including Geopora, Peziza, Choiromyces, and Leucangium. These genera belong to the class Pezizomycetes and the Pezizales order. Several truffle-like basidiomycetes are excluded from Pezizales, including Rhizopogon and Glomus. Truffles are ectomycorrhizal fungi, so they are found in close association with tree roots. Spore dispersal is accomplished through fungivores, animals that eat fungi. These fungi have ecological roles in nutrient cycling and drought tolerance. Some truffle species are prized as food. Edible truffles are used in Italian, French and other national haute cuisines. Truffles are cultivated and harvested from natural environments. The black truffle or black Périgord truffle , the second-most commercially valuable species, is named after the Périgord region in France. Black truffles associate with oaks, hazelnut, cherry, and other deciduous trees and are harvested in late autumn and winter. The genome sequence of the black truffle was published in March 2010.

A vol-au-vent is a small hollow case of puff pastry. It was formerly also called a patty case. A vol-au-vent is typically made by cutting two circles in rolled out puff pastry, cutting a hole in one of them, then stacking the ring-shaped piece on top of the disc-shaped piece. The pastry is cooked, then filled with any of a variety of savory or sweet fillings.

Provençal olive oil brioche, common during Christmas