Provence has its share of Michelin-starred chefs, but great food is not ever the preserve of the wealthy. The real cuisine is rustic: soupe au pistou, rabbit, brandade (salt cod), sweetbreads, pig’s feet, tripe, and stews constituted of beef, wild boar (sanglier), or bull (taureau) have their roots in peasant cooking.
Meals often begin with pastis, an anise-flavored liquor diluted with water. The aperitif is served with olives or with inky tapenade, an expansion of anchovies and black olives. Then come the vegetable tarts, pizzas, simply prepared Mediterranean and Alpine fish, and soups – especially aigo-boulido (garlic), fish soup, and pistou, a hearty vegetable soup flavoured with basil and garlic – which have won Provence admirers around the globe.