If you are ever to understand the heart of a place, you must try its food. Food tells a story, and nowhere more than on the French Riviera, which has been rapidly transformed from a sleepy 19th century coastline of sheep farms and fishing villages to a jet-set destination littered with Michelin star restaurants and Provencal restaurants among the grapevines.
The delicacies of the French Riviera chart the cultural history of the area: of rustic peasant foods like socca and the fishermen’s hearty bouillabaisse stew, right through to the Tarte Tropezienne – a cake propelled to fame by a 1950’s silver screen starlet. Above all, Southern French food tells the tale of humble local produce done to perfection—of quality ingredients prepared in a way that startles the palate with something that it expects to be ordinary.
