Recently, I had the pleasure of talking about the food of France with Dr. Isabelle Drewelow, Associate Professor of French and Applied Linguistics at the University of Alabama. Hailing from Bordeaux, Dr. Drewelow often spends summers with her aunt and uncle in Provence. During our time together, we discussed the culinary patchwork of France, French food and the misconceptions surround it, and how\/why the cuisine of Provence is so unique.<\/p>\n
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AD:<\/strong> The first question I have is, where are you from?<\/p>\n ID:<\/strong> I\u2019m from Bordeaux in France. It\u2019s the southwest of France.<\/p>\n AD:<\/strong> What is the food like there?<\/p>\n ID:<\/strong> Well, there\u2019s a lot of specialties. Bordeaux is known as a gastronomy region, and it is also known for wine. But, you need to eat with drinking, right? So, one of the specialties of the southwest region is foie gras<\/em>, which is duck or goose liver. [Another specialty] is oysters, fresh oysters. They are raised in the Bassin d\u2019Arcachon, which is like a lake, but it has an opening to the sea so the water [can come] in and out with the tide. And then we have magret, <\/em>which is duck breast that you usually cook on [the] barbecue. It\u2019s a lot of heavy food. Of course, there\u2019s the grapes because of the wine. Duck confit (duck cooked slowly in its own fat) is another thing. So, it\u2019s a lot of duck.<\/p>\n AD:<\/strong> Is Bordeaux on the coast?<\/p>\n ID:<\/strong> It\u2019s about a 40 minute drive.<\/p>\n AD:<\/strong> With Bordeaux being on the coast and Provence being on the coast, do you think there are similarities between their cuisines?<\/p>\n ID: <\/strong>Yes and no. I think Provencal cuisine is a lot more Mediterranean; olives and olive oils and tomatoes are really the basics, whereas olives are not basic in Bordeaux because it is too humid compared to the dry climate of Provence. Also, the soil around Bordeaux is very sandy, so there\u2019s not a whole lot of things that can grow besides pine trees and vineyards. It (the soil) is great for vineyards, but not so great for other things. There\u2019s a lot of cornfields, but wheat [is grown] in the northern or central parts of France.<\/p>\n AD:<\/strong> Do you find that the cuisine of Bordeaux is more stereotypically \u201cFrench\u201d than the cuisine of Provence?<\/p>\n ID:<\/strong> No, not necessarily, because each region in France really has its identity expressed through its dishes. Because of that, you\u2019ll say \u201cOh, Bretagne (Brittany) has crepe<\/em> and Alsace has choucroute<\/em>, which is like sauerkraut and is much more German. Dijon has the mustard, right? Lyon has some specialty with meat. Every region really expresses itself. It\u2019s different, but it\u2019s not more or less French.<\/p>\n AD:<\/strong> [This discussion] leads nicely into the next question I have, which is, what are some misconceptions you think Americans have about French food?<\/p>\n ID:<\/strong> I think that we eat this rich food all the time, which isn\u2019t true. You don\u2019t eat foie gras<\/em> or magret<\/em> every day, it\u2019s just for holidays, like oysters. You do eat baguette every day, that\u2019s for sure. But, I think the Provencal cuisine is more suited to everyday than Bordeaux cuisine, for example. I think one [misconception] is that it\u2019s refined all the time. It\u2019s not refined all the time; everyday food is just vegetables and meat and rice or pasta, and that\u2019s it. You don\u2019t go out of your way with a gigantic meal. Another misconception, I think, is that French people take long lunches of two hours, but it\u2019s more like a half-hour with a sandwich or something else they bring from home. It\u2019s really similar to here. [Another misconception is] that we drink wine with every meal\u2014not necessarily.<\/p>\n AD:<\/strong> When did you first visit Provence?<\/p>\n ID:<\/strong> I don\u2019t know, [when I was] one or two years old. I have an uncle who lives there. Christmases were either at his place or in Bordeaux, or sometimes we went skiing in the Alps.<\/p>\n AD:<\/strong> So pretty much your whole life [you\u2019ve visited Provence]?<\/p>\n ID:<\/strong> Yes, and I go there every summer. My uncle and my aunt are both from Bordeaux, but they\u2019ve lived in Marseille for 45 years.<\/p>\n AD:<\/strong> I know that seafood is a really [important] component of Provencal cuisine. [I also know] that a lot of Americans [can be] squeamish when it comes to seafood. Have you ever felt that way when it comes to fish or seafood?<\/p>\n ID:<\/strong> No, never. Seafood has always been part of my diet. In Bordeaux, there\u2019s this river, and there\u2019s a fish that\u2019s only in [that] river, and it\u2019s only in the spring when they come up the river so people will try to catch them and sell them. It\u2019s called\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad alose<\/em>. I remember having parties in the backyard\u2014 it\u2019s April or May, the fish are on the barbecue. My mother would have la f\u00eate de l\u2019alose.<\/em> I probably started eating oysters when I was\u2026 I don\u2019t even remember! For me it (seafood) has always been part of [my diet], and in Marseille, it\u2019s the same way. My kids are the same way; for them, fish is normal. When we go [to Provence] every summer, I think every three days there\u2019s fish.<\/p>\n AD:<\/strong> From what I\u2019ve read, fish markets on the coast are really popular.<\/p>\n ID:<\/strong> Yes, and in Marseille, what\u2019s interesting is that you have the Vieux Port, <\/em>the Old Port, which is sort of like a big square, and at the bottom of it, if you go in the morning, the fishermen are there and they have fish. The fish is literally coming off the boats, and you can go and buy your fish right there. My aunt and uncle, they don\u2019t live downtown. They live close to L\u2019Estaque, which was a small fishing village just outside Marseille\u2014now it\u2019s included in Marseille\u2014where the Impressionist painters like Cezanne painted a lot of views. There\u2019s one street, but, like, four fish stores. Each has different boats that come in every day, so if one store doesn\u2019t have what you want, you can go to another.<\/p>\n AD:<\/strong> What dishes [or ingredients] do you most associate with Provence?<\/p>\n ID:<\/strong> Grilled fish. Bouillabaisse, which is fish soup. Ratatouille, of course. The soup, pistou<\/em>, which is a basil soup with white beans. Tomatoes, tomato salads with olives and feta cheese. [The onion tart] pissaladi\u00e8re, that\u2019s a good one, too. Olives, of course, and olive oil. Another thing that I associate [with Provence] is the melon. It\u2019s a small, orange melon from Cavaillon, which is in \u201cGreen Provence.\u201d They\u2019re so <\/em>good. You usually eat them as an appetizer, but you can also have them for dessert. They\u2019re small, kind of like a cantaloupe but juicier and sweeter.<\/p>\n AD:<\/strong> Is there a particular dish that is your favorite?<\/p>\n ID:<\/strong> Well, I love bouillabaisse, but it costs so much money. I really love the pistou<\/em> soup. You can have it in the summer or the winter. We eat it in the summer because my aunt makes it and knows that I love it. It\u2019s very simple, but very flavorful.<\/p>\n AD:<\/strong> Is pistou lik<\/em>e the Italian pesto?<\/p>\n ID:<\/strong> It\u2019s fresh basil. My aunt grows her own basil in flowerpots outside. It\u2019s vegetarian; she uses tomatoes and white beans and it simmers for like, eight hours. You add basil to it at certain moments. It\u2019s all about the simmering. French food is all about the preparation.<\/p>\n AD:<\/strong> If you wanted good French food, could you get it here (Alabama)?<\/p>\n ID:<\/strong> No. I\u2019ll make it. But it\u2019s difficult, for example, to find duck. You can find it at the Chinese market, but it\u2019s just not the same. There are French restaurants in Birmingham, and I\u2019ve been to one, but I think they\u2019re a bit snobbish. There are some types of French food that are all about the gastronomy, but for me, it\u2019s about the meal, the preparation, but also sitting with friends. [There are] none in Tuscaloosa, that\u2019s for sure.<\/p>\n AD:<\/strong> If you wanted to feel like you were in Provence, if you wanted to have that experience here, what would you eat?<\/p>\n ID:<\/strong> Olives, green or Kalamata olives, as an appetizer. Probably tomato, mozzarella, and basil salad, drizzled with olive oil. Ratatouille would be easy to make. I\u2019d get some fish, probably trout or mussels, if I can find them. For dessert, just fruit.<\/p>\n AD:<\/strong> We\u2019ve talked a lot about misconceptions, but if there is something you\u2019d want people to know about the food of Provence, what would it be?<\/p>\n ID:<\/strong> It\u2019s really good! The olive oil, rather than butter, gives it a really distinctive flavor. I think more people here should cook less with margarine or butter and more with olive oil. And basil is good with everything. I hear a lot about the Mediterranean diet being healthy. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s [necessarily] healthy, I think it\u2019s a way of life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Recently, I had the pleasure of talking about the food of France with Dr. Isabelle Drewelow, Associate Professor of French and Applied Linguistics at the University of Alabama. Hailing from Bordeaux, Dr. Drewelow often spends summers with her aunt and uncle in Provence. 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