An Epicurean Tour of the French Provinces

As you progress along the shore toward Italy, there are worthy places in the principality of Monaco and Menton, but they pale after La Réserve. It seems more considerate to leave you on this lofty plane, using my remaining space to cite a few Mediterranean recipes. There is a dazzling list to choose from aïoli, bouillabaisse, canneloni, daurade àla niçoise-you can just about go through the alphabet. We'll start with the celebrated aïoli, the Provençal version of mayonnaise, which accompanies so many Midi dishes. Mistral, the beloved poet of Provençe, scorned mayonnaise as mere marmalade compared to the robust virility of aïoli. It may ostracize you for a day, but it's worth trying!

Aïoli

Have all ingredients except the water very cold. Chop 8 garlic cloves finely and then mash them to a pulp in a small mortar. Stir in 1 egg yolk, ¼ teaspoon salt, and a pinch pepper. Then add 3 or A tablespoons olive oil very slowly, drop by drop, stirring furiously. Place this mixture in an electric mixer. and add gradually the juice of ½ lemon and 1 tablespoon tepid water with the mixer in action. Then, still mixing. add gradually I cup olive oil. Serve this mayonnaise with a platter containing steamed salt cod filets, potatoes in their jackets, carrots, artichokes, and hard-cooked eggs. Boiled beef may be substituted for the fish to obtain another version of this dish.

A delicious and original bors-d'oeuvre flourishes on the Riviera, and could just as well flourish in your home during the season when small pickling onions arc available. This dish is:

Oignons àla Monegasque

Peel 1 pound small white onions, the smallest obtainable, and put them in a saucepan with 1 ½ cups water. ½ cup white wine vinegar. 3 tablespoons olive oil, 3 tablespoons tomato paste. 1 bay leaf, ¼ teaspoon thyme, a sprig parsley, salt and freshly ground pepper. and ½ cup seedless raisins. Cover and allow them to cook over a low fire for about 1 ½ hours, or until the onions are tender and the sauce is thick and greatly reduced. Arrange the onions in a flat serving dish, pour the sauce over them, and chill.

Here is another very Latin hors d'oeuvre:

Poivrons Grillés (Grilled Peppers)

Select 3 or 4 sweet green, yellow, or red peppers, cut them in three or four sections, remove the seeds, coat on both sides with olive oil, and allow to stand for 1 hour. Wipe them, grill lightly on each side, and slice. Then dress with French dressing to which you add ½ teaspoon dry mustard and 1 teaspoon finely chopped onion.

Finally, here is an ardent, aromatic way of preparing:

Poulet àla Niçoise (Chicken Niçoise)

Cut up a 5-pound fowl as for a fricassee, rub the pieces with salt, and sauté them on all sides in 2 tablespoons melted butter combined with 3 or 4 tablespoons good oil.

When the pieces are brown, blend in from ¾ to 1 ½ teaspoons powdered saffron, depending on your taste and the strength of the saffron. Now add 3 garlic cloves cut in half, ½ teaspoon dried tarragon, ¼ teaspoon dried thyme, a pinch sage, 2 bay leaves, freshly ground pepper and salt if necessary, 4 or 5 ripe tomatoes, peeled and quartered and seeded. Also add about 20 pitted Italian olives, some green, some black, 1 ¼ cups white wine, and 1 ¼ cups chicken stock, which you have made ready by previously simmering the neck, wing tips, and giblets in water with a little onion, parsley, bay leaf, thyme, salt, and pepper.

Cover this savory mixture, which has a perfume characteristic of southern France with its particular blend of flavors. and cook it over a low heat for about I hour, or until the thicken is tender. The sauce should not be too plentiful and thin. If it is, drain it off and reduce it before serving.

Thumbing through past numbers of GOURMET, I find that bouillabaisse has claimed its full share of attention throughout the years. Another recipe would seem superfluous, but Jacques Normand has written such an enchanting one in French verse that it is needed to complete the documentation on this poetic dish. Here it is. direct from Soleils d'hiver and free from any meddlesome translator;

La Bouillabaisse