Jacques Chibois from the Bastide St Antoine certifies: “The whole world is converting to Mediterranean cooking.” The restaurant’s menu changes according to the season because the adventure begins at the market place where inspiration is pushed to its limits. We can opt for a John Durry with courgettes served nicoise style lemongrass flavoured olive and flaxseed oil or savoury roasted pigeon rosemary, thyme, marjoram, grilled fennel fried with beans. The chef selects only from the best worldwide foods. “From here: Maghreb, from there: a touch of Asian spices and a drop of America or elsewhere: some flavours of India.

This combination leaves you with a bed of young vine leaves, raisins, coriander, honey, lemon and pine nuts or fruits of the forest with jasmine flavoured jelly, basil sauce, preserved olives and vanilla flavoured olive oil.

Serge Gouloumès from The Mas Candille is careful about the quality. He himself picks out his own peas, asparagus, courgettes, lemons, and bitter oranges straight from Menton. He is extra careful when choosing fish and favours limited combinations by using just three general elements. He puts together red mullet, mixed herbs and fresh fennel delicately cooked to perfection in an extremely hot oven with a shell like emulsion, buttered and finished off with a touch of lemon oil. The Azurean climate gives nature the possibility to reveal itself better than anywhere else: fruits and vegetables are abundant, lamb is fresh from Sisteron, pasta and ham from Italy, Patanegra from Spain (Andalusia ham)….Provencal cooking expertises stuffed vegetables: excellent are the onions and aubergines! (Eggplant) Serge Gouloumès when preparing a Nicoise salad manages to respect the traditional ingredients but uses his own imagination and common sense. He mixes together artichokes, spring onions, a few cherry tomatoes; the fresh tuna “mi cuit” cooked around the  edges and pink in the middle; and an onion marmalade brings on sweet and tasty flavours.; the acidic flavourings come from the champagne vinegar also “mi cuit” ; anchovies finish off the fennel mousse….Such an artist. Even the meat is elaborated with as much care and attention: such as the lamb with sun dried preserved tomatoes, mozzarella and olives arranged in a cylinder of pasta. Provencal cooking mixes different regions together: like with sea scallops, peas in pistou and basil presented in a shell infuses the south with Brittany. Presentation is important as with his lemon tart: he studied the recipe before correcting it and then came up with different tastes: first mousse, then marmalade on a short crust pastry finally followed by granite and meringue golden sprinkles. Without a doubt Christian Plumail (L’Univers restaurant) is the more nicoise of the three and he aims to apply rare effects into his cooking. The work begins by going out and finding the products of the region which are becoming less and less accessible and largely submissive to the season. “It’s during spring and summer that we can express ourselves at our best.” Like in this case: sea bream cooked in Menton lemons and served with the first courgettes of the season roasted. We are not surprised to find on the menu fish stock with crayfish or spinach beet pie for desert. They are actually working on “Poutine” served raw in an omelette or soup. Even though the basic recipe is old the chef throws in modern flavourings and techniques. Far from being in a fixed state Provencal chefs are using their own ideas to create the traditional dishes. Primordial is finding the right ground growing commodity i.e. herbs.

Morocco
A sensual approach to gastronomy At Moroccan tables, the sight, smell and touch give you a preceding idea of the flavour. The full blown blossoming of colours; the textures create such a surprising contrast, the different contrast of flavours complement each other. Incurred in a world where we have the privilege of awakening our senses.

It’s difficult to class Moroccan gastronomy in a line up on a worldly level. If the majority place it in third position after the French and the Chinese, Paul would class it in fourth position. It doesn’t matter anyway… Once seated in front of a steaming hot lamb and artichoke tajine any considerations will just disappear.

Fatima Hal, who is an ethnologist and owner of the Parisian restaurant The Mansouria, conjures up sweet ‘n savoury characteristics as opposed to the Chinese way of sweet ‘n sour. The author of the book Flavours and Gestures, The Couscous Book, Moroccan Cooking and The Big Book of Moroccan Cooking attributes to tasteful variety in two ways: the microclimate which incites the role of fruits and vegetables and the most animated history of this North African country. “Moroccan civilisation has always known how to both give and take” A country crossed by different influences therefore having an honourable Berber ancestral heritage which is brought out in dishes like tajine and couscous (the name of these dishes even tells of their ingredients).They can even twist the way in which fruit is prepared: in the south they even use figs when making couscous! The Arab -Muslim branch withdraws a great deal of history from its connection to Andalusia during the XIIth and XIIIth centuries. The alliances are also Moroccan internees who come in contact with certain culinary methods whether it’s bourgeois townsmen or country peasants.

Rituals and tradition
This country is keen on costumes. And dining can even be like a ceremony. The organiser of the Culinary Art Festival in Fez explains “Vegetables are to be served everyday and meat signifies a special occasion,” Couscous exists in about 100 different varieties and is eaten as a family dish whilst using your right hand. Tajine which deviates about 300 different ways (chicken, vegetarian, lamb, keftas maybe even fish), equally musters its followers. In Marrakech they mention Tanjia. This is when following the tradition, before going to the steam baths and after having chosen the perfect combination of spices; stop off at the butcher’s taking with you a jar. After having chosen the best cuts of meat it’s off to the steam room. The dish is cooking whilst he takes a steam. Then there are two possibilities: he will take it home or go to the N’zha (the oriental way of dining whilst sitting on grass) what would their food be like without flaky pastry? In Southern France we go for cereals and stuffed vegetables whilst in Marrakech, Fez or Oujda they prefer filo pastry or “Trid” It would be impossible to talk about Moroccan food without bringing up “Pastilla” (A traditional dish using pigeon) The method in Tangiers tends to be acidic’n’savoury, (chicken and lemon) sweet’n’savoury in Marrakech (pigeon and almonds). The key to this meaty thing with vegetables or sometimes with spiced fruit is that there is a light cinnamon flavouring added to the pastry. Another item left to discover is the Mechoi, which is whole lamb roasted on a skewer Marrakchi style. Never has meat tasted so good! Every household has this dish ready to eat day or night. Fresh mint tea served with every meal is a symbol of Moroccan hospitality and generosity. On a land engulfed with sun, raisins, almonds, dates, pomegranates, and ginger relish in juice!

The tables are filled with succulent bread and soups; there are about seventy different varieties. The French take to certain sweet pastries (Makrout ,cornes de gazelle) but some specialists believe they have a lack of desserts in Morocco.

Abundant and sensual, and kept for a long time as homemade cooking, traditional Moroccan cooking has been spreading around for the past ten years in restaurants everywhere. Successful with tourists who admit to visiting the country for the food.