Tasting of Provencal products: embark on a culinary journey!

The Provence-Alpes-Côte-D’azur region is known for its sunny climate, pleasant living environment and beautiful countryside – but also for the culinary specialties of the south of France. This tasty regional cuisine combines a wide variety of products: tomatoes, garlic, goat cheese, green and black olives, dry sausage, sardines, herbs from Provence, and the list goes on.

Tomatoes from Provence

Bouillabaisse from Marseille

Tapenade from Aix-en-Provence

You may already be familiar with several of our culinary specialties such as bouillabaisse, aioli, tapenade, ratatouille, anchoïade, pissaladière, pesto soup, but also sweet treats such as calissons, navettes and croquants. From fruits to vegetables, sugary and salty foods typical of the region, olive oil but also pastis and wine, you will be served!

“During your language stay at IS Aix-en-Provence Institute, you will have the opportunity to taste these delicacies”

Are your taste buds already starting to wriggle? Well, during your language stay at IS Aix-en-Provence Institute, you will have the opportunity to taste these delicacies ! Indeed, we invite you to continue learning French through our savory tasting workshops of Provencal products, cheeses or wines. You will also have the opportunity to taste the products of our region during the excursions organized with our partner George or your outings to the restaurant.

While waiting for your next visit, we take you on a culinary journey to the sublime flavors of the south. Let’s discover together some of our products as well as some of our specialties:

Olive

This small green or black fruit with an intense taste is a delight for our taste buds all year round. We like it as an aperitif, on our pizzas, prepared as a tapenade or as olive oil. To get 1 liter of oil, we need 5-8 kg of olives. Fortunately, there are many olive trees in the region and there is a wide variety of olives in Provence: cailletier, grossane, salonenque, picholine and many others. On the other hand, before picking the first olives from an olive tree, you have to be patient: six years for the first fruits and 30 years to reach full profitability. But rest assured, the wait is worth it!

Garlic

The omnipresent sunshine makes garlic even more fragrant here than in the rest of France, making it an essential part of Provencal cuisine. Garlic enhances the taste of almost all of our preparations: tapenade, eggplant caviar, bouillabaisse and it is even the basis of certain specialties such as Aioli. Fresh garlic is also ground to be used in dressings or rubbed on a crouton of bread while the cooked garlic is often sizzled in oil before adding the other ingredients in the pan.

Cheese

There is very little cow’s milk in the Bouches du Rhône. Alpine goats, on the other hand, are numerous and give abundant milk. The variety of pastures and the quality of the artisanal products in the department make the diversity of Provence cheese. The three most famous cheeses of the PACA region are ‘Brousse du Rove’ (AOP), a fresh goat cheese made with white wine vinegar heated to 90 ° C, ‘Fromage de Banon’ (AOC), presented in its case of leaves, with strong flavors and a smooth paste, and ‘Picodon’ (AOC), a soft goat cheese with a natural rind.

Sweets

Presenting the most famous speciality of Aix-en-Provence: the Calisson! This 15th century sweet treat is made from candied melon, orange peel and crushed almonds. This dough, coated with a crunchy icing, gently melts in your mouth. Not far from our charming city, we find the ‘Navette de Marseille’, this delicious cookie with orange blossom. We also like ‘croquants’, these almond-based sweets, white nougat or black nougat, still made with … almonds!

Drinks and wines of Provence

What could be more tempting than to taste – with moderation – a rosé wine from Provence or a pastis, the famous anise-flavored aperitif? Alongside well-known protected appellations such as the AOC ‘Chateauneuf-du-pape’ or the ‘Côtes de Provence’, you will discover other aperitifs with southern accents.

To discover even more (Camargue rice, lavender honey, AOC olive oils, Ventoux muscat, and more) and satisfy your taste buds, let’s meet at the IS Aix-en-Provence institute!