“It’s breathing history and serenity…and then there’s the food.” Tancrède Barale, Managing Director of Hostellerie de l’Abbaye de la Celle and La Bastide de Moustiers Long-time readers of The Modern Trobadors know that my stomping grounds center on the Luberon in Provence’s département of the Vaucluse, with frequent ventures into the Bouche-de-Rhone département. Seldom do I find myself in any of the other four départements of Provence. It’s not that I don’t like those areas—in fact, I love Saint-Tropez in the Var; Moustiers-Sainte-Marie in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence; and Nice in the Alpes Maritimes département—it’s just that I’m seldom drawn so strongly that I want to rest…

By:
On:
In: Art, Food, History, Restaurants

Today’s post is coordinated with my friend David’s current Cocoa & Lavender post. David and I each chose a recipe from Provence Food and Wine: The Art of Living, a new cookbook by François Millo and Viktorija Todorovska. I went with the main meal and David went with dessert, a Tarte au Citron. “Bouillabaisse is a party,” said Viktorija Todorovska*. “It creates a party.” Yes it does! This luscious “fish stew” may have come from humble origins–it was a “plat des pauvres,” said François Millo**. But, today, the very word is much more likely to conjure up festivity, celebration, and fun. It certainly did for…

By:
On:
In: Culture, Food, Places

Rosé can be the perfect match for your turkey and its varied trimmings, especially when it comes from Provence, the birthplace of rosé. With hundreds of years of practice making this wine, it is not surprising that the best rosés in the world hail from this region. Light yet complex, nicely balanced fruit and acidity, Provence rosés are refreshing to one’s palate and versatile enough to go with the myriad foods typically found on the traditional Thanksgiving table. (Keep a bottle chilled for the leftovers, too!) I love Thanksgiving. I am one of those (obsessive) sorts who has a file bulging with Thanksgiving recipes and…

By:
On:
In: Food, Wine

“It’s a big wine….it’s a long story.” I bemoaned in my last post that I am not in Provence right now (as I often am this time of year). But, our recent tasting of four rosés from Provence, transported me to that part of the world —tout de suite and without so much as a click of my espadrilles. Ooh la la. That’s what good rosé can do. I landed in the tiny village of La Motte-en-Provence, in the Var, at Château d’Esclans from whence the star of the tasting hails. We had, for the first time, a bottle of the much-ballyhooed prestige cuvée Garrus…

By:
On:
In: Wine

Château Miraval, summer home of the uber famous Brangelina family, was celebrated among rosé lovers and baby boomer rock and rollers long before the renowned family moved in. Pink Floyd anyone? Readers of a certain age may be able to dust off an old album that was recorded, in part, in this château: Pink Floyd’s legendary The Wall. French jazz pianist Jacques Loussier, who owned the property from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, installed a recording studio in the chateau. Loussier initially recorded his own work and later invited French clients like Maxime Le Forestier and Pierre Vassiliu. In 1979, the popular British…

By:
On:
In: Wine