A Foodies’ Stroll Through Nice

                                 The Cours Saleya is Nice's epicenter for food-lovers

Tomorrow I'll arrive on the Riviera for two weeks at Julia Child’s villa with two different groups of food-lovers.  One of the area’s foodie highlights is the historic center of Nice, just steps from its elegant beach promenade.  There’s no better place to begin a foodie trek than the Cours Saleya, the city’s open air market.  Since pretty much anything can be grown in the French Riviera’s favorable climate, the autumn produce here is a cacophony for the senses.

The Cours Saleya is filled with food stalls that have been owned by the same family for generations.   One of my favorite vendors is a woman selling socca, a crepe-like snack made from garbanzo beans.  While there are several folks selling socca, the best one is made from the lady who cooks it in a giant cast-iron skillet over a wooden fire.  Originally from neighboring Italy (the border is only twenty-something miles), socca has become a classical Niçoise specialty.

                                     Chevre is synonymous with the French Riviera

Provence is famous for its goat cheese and the Cours Saleya has every size and shape for sale, from small hearts to large pryamids, from small discs to big logs.  There’s goat cheese made with the herbs of Provence, or cheese covered with black ash to protect it during the ripening process.   Other renditions include those wrapped in aromatic chestnut leaves, or even chevre studded with Provence’s black truffles.

 

                  Olives were brought to Nice before the birth of Christ by the Greeks & Romans

The olive is the other classical food symbol of Provence’s Riviera and the Cours Saleya is replete with vendors selling everything olive.  Like goat cheese, olives come in multiple renditions from the colossal green picholine to the teeny-tiny  “Nicoise” varietal.  These petite olives are only grown in this area of France and are prized for their nutty, intense savory flavor.   Also, there are many merchants who will tempt you with samples of tapenade, a pungent olive paste.   Anything and everything goes here for tapenade:  there’s tapenade from every type of olive, but there’s also tapenade made with roasted artichokes & herbs of Provence, tapenade infused with dried tomatoes, tapenade with figs & rosemary, and tapenade mixed with grilled aubergines (eggplant).

                           The Alziari shop is like a museum paying tribute to the olive

A block or so from the Cours Saleya there’s another olive experience I recommend.   The Alziari family has been producing “Grand Cru” olive oil in Nice since 1868 and their retail shop is worth seeing.  More of a museum than a store, it’s chocked full of history.   Up until twenty years ago, olive oil was sold in bulk and shoppers brought in their own containers to be filled from a giant stainless steel vat in the store.  Today, Alziari has become an international upmarket brand and is sold in the US at high-end foodie retail shops and online.

            Located across from Nice's Opera House, Maison Auer deserves a standing ovation 

A one minute walk from Alizari will take you to the next must-visit foodie emporium, La Maison Auer.  This opulent jewel-box of a shop is the Versailles Palace of chocolate and candy.   Run by the same family for five generations, Auer has been making irresistible edibles since 1820.   Exquisite packaging makes for the perfect gift to bring a foodie friend back home.  

Next in this three-part series will be an article on the best of Provence's outdoor markets.

Authentic Flavors of the French Riviera

 

                Restaurant Arcades, featuring only authentic Niçoise recipes, is a dying breed

I can think of no better way to begin this month's three-part segment on the French Riviera than with an overview of the tastes of this magical area.  I’ll be flying to Nice soon and I’m already contemplating what I’ll order for my first night's dinner.   Fifty years ago Julia Child wrote about the restaurant in which I’ll be dining.   Julia lamented that Les Arcades in Biot was one of the last bastions of true Niçoise cooking on the French Riviera.  Les Arcades is still owned by the same family as it was when Julia visited.  Having dined at Les Arcades over twenty times, I couldn’t agree more that its menu today is even more of a rarity.  This article will explain Niçoise cuisine and why it has become an endangered species.

                  Arcade's roasted red peppers with anchoiade sauce is going to be my starter

Nice’s culinary profile is a true fusion cuisine of its past conquerors.  It begins with the Greeks who arrived on the Riviera by boat 600 B.C.  They brought with them olives & olive oil, as well as a ubiquitous fish soup (now known as bouillabaisse).  The Romans, who arrived 500 years later on foot with their own olives & olive oil, named this area “Provencia.”  Not only did the name stick (Provence) but so did these Roman dishes:

 ~  Anchoiade:  a thick anchovy paste made with olive oil, vinegar & garlic.  It's used to flavor everything. 

~ Fougasse:  a baked flatbread very similar to ancient focaccia baked in outdoor community ovens.

                       Pissaladière, mostly served by the slice, is a great Niçoise on-the-go lunch

 ~ Pissaladière:  thin crusted bread topped with carmelized onions,  olives, anchovies & olive oil.

But the Romans are not the only Italian influence on Nice’s gastronomic ways.  The French Riviera was part of Italy’s House of Savoy from 1388 to 1860.  During this nearly 500 year period, Italian foods became even more prominent in this French area.  Here’s a sampling of Italy’s gifts to the French Riviera:

•   Pesto became pistou

•   Farinata (Italy’s chick pea pancake) became socca

•  Tuna salad from the area of Genoa became Salade Niçoise

                          Niçoise olives are very tiny black bundles of super-charged flavor

To understand Niçoise cooking there are a two important cornerstones.  First, is olive oil.   Second, Niçoise cuisine is difficult to master because it’s so simple.  This means that every ingredient must be of the highest quality, seasoning must be just right, and the execution flawless.  There are no complicated sauces to hide any mistakes.   Mess up one thing and the dish quickly falls apart.

                  The above authentic Niçoise salad is far more simple than today's version 

So why is Niçoise cuisine a dying art-form?  The French Riviera receives five million tourists annually and they come from every country in the world.  Tastes are changing and restaurants reflect this globalization of food; for example there are > 200 Asian restaurants in Nice and > 400 Italian restaurants.  Sushi and pizza have become more popular than bouillabaisse.  Eating habits are changing, e.g. fast food is becoming more common.  Many travelers also equate French food with complicated rich sauces, so super simple French dishes are often an oxymoron.   Finally, while nearly every seaside restaurant on the French Riviera has a Salad Niçoise on its menu not even these salads are truly Niçoise---the authentic version does not include potatoes, green beans or lettuce!      

 

Stay tuned for the following two articles in this Riviera trio:  A Foodie’s Stroll Through Historic Nice, and Provence's don't miss outdoor markets.

A Foodie’s French Riviera

In a few days I’ll be flying to Nice for two weeks at the estate in which Julia Child wrote her famous cookbook duo, Mastering the Art of French Cooking.   I’m already dreaming of the Riviera’s culinary landscape.   What’s not to love about olives, herbs de Provence, lamb, and bouillabaisse, right? 

One of my favorite experiences on the Riviera is to visit the supermarche of all supermarkets.  Carrefour in Antibes is like Whole Foods, Costco and William Sonoma all under one roof…but on steroids.  There are 73 check-out lines and the staff wear roller skates to traverse the seemingly football-sized-stadium offering everything that any foodie could possibly desire.   There are four monstrous aisles of just yogurt alone.  The place is mind-boggling.  If you can’t find it here it probably doesn’t exist.  Check out this quick video of the incredible store:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RXC3nbPe1o

Another special place for the food-lover to procure ingredients for a dinner or a picnique is the polar opposite of Carrefour.   Cannes’ Forville Marché is a covered market in the center of the super swanky city, just a few blocks from where the star-studded film festival is held.  It was one of Julia Child’s favorite places to shop, especially for fish.  I’m taking both groups I’ve organized for a week’s homage a Julia here.   Hopefully one of the groups will be cooking bouillabaisse that night for dinner.

                                     Alziari's is a treasure trove for foodie gifts to bring home

My favorite olive oil producer’s shop is located in the heart of old town Nice.  The Nicolas Alizari company has been producing magnifique oils since 1868.   This jewel box of a store makes a perfect visit when wandering through the cobblestone streets of the historical center.  

Cours Selaya market in Nice offers a bounty of fresh food products

Not far from Alziari you’ll find Nice’s famous outdoor covered market.  Less than 100 meters from Nice’s bikini-clad beach, you’ll find vendors whose families have been renting the same food stalls for generations.  Don’t miss the "socca lady" selling the Riviera’s beloved garbanzo bean crepes called socca---she cooks them as her ancestors did over an open wood fire in a huge, specially-crafted skillet.  And, do sample everyone’s tampenade as each family has their secret twists on the classic.

                               Stunning Biot glass can be mailed home from the factory

The French Riviera offers a plethora of yummy edibles for the gourmand, however, don’t forget the mind-boggling array of Provencal fabrics to buy for your tablescape back home.  Gorgeous placemats, napkins and tablecloths can be found at every outdoor market in Provence's colorful fabrics, as well as some of the area’s finest shops (but make sure you get the ones made in France and not the Chinese knockoffs).  Finally, don’t forget to pay a visit to the enchanting village of Biot, where artisan glass-makers are still making the town’s famous bubble glass into stunning wine and water goblets, and over the top dinner service.