Chez Fonfon: Pour faire une bonne bouillabaisse...

...Il faut se lever tot le matin (in order to make a good bouillabaisse you have to wake up early). Here goes the song that Fernandel, a French actor and a native of Marseille like the famous fish dish, used to interpret in the 1950's. And we indeed woke up early, not to make a bouillabaisse but to drive from Valence, where my parents live, to Marseille. Once again, I had to honor a promise I made to my wife. I had told her the real bouillabaisse, served in Marseille and its surroundings, was playing in a totally different league than the tasteless dish she had ordered in a Parisian restaurant (which was not a good idea to start with and one I should have discouraged in the first place).

There was only one way to deliver on the high expectations I had triggered: having lunch at Chez Fonfon. Founded 55 years ago, this restaurant is located in one of the most beautiful settings I know of: Vallon des Auffes. It is a small creek under the Corniche Kennedy where lies a little fisherman's port and village. The owners, Alexandre and Peguy Pinna, are the third generation at the helm and haven't changed the formula that has made the success of Fonfon: good food, bouillabaisse in particular, and warm greeting.

As you can suspect, after having pleasant amuses, we ordered the Bouillabaisse du Pecheur (Fisherman's Bouillabaisse). Chez Fonfon's recipe consists of a bouillon (rockfish broth flavored and colored with tomatoes and saffron) and an assortment of 5 types of fish served separately: Saint Pierre (known as John Dory in English), congre (conger-eel), rascasse (scorpion fish), galinette (gurnard) and vive (weever). The result was beautiful and delicious. The bouillon was warm and rich and the addition of croutons topped with aioli (garlic mayonnaise) or rouille (saffron aioli) enhanced the whole thing. The fish, perfectly cooked by the bouillon, tasted so much better than that caught in the Atlantic Ocean. Difficult to believe that this now expansive and luxurious dish used to be the average fisherman's treat. However, at 46 EUR it remains a steal compared to many bad meals I had in other countries / cities for higher price tags.

The view on Vallon des Auffes is certainly a great asset for the restaurant but service is also very nice and efficient. Finally, I had the chance to taste Domaine Tempier's white wine for the first time. And it is to die for. It reminded me of everything I had read on Lulu Peyraud, her cuisine and the domaine itself as well as the guided tour of Marseille she gave Kermit Lynch and that he beautifully recounts in Adventures on the Wine Route.

Chez Fonfon is definitely a good reason to stop in Marseille. As are the sights of the Mediterranean and Frioul archipelago from the Corniche. But there are plenty of other excellent reasons to visit this cosmopolitan and exciting city that you will find out once you are there.

Markets: the soul of Provence

I have always been convinced that, in order to truly understand a foreign culture, you have to speak its language and appreciate its food. But tasting local specialties is certainly only a first step. Enjoying the sight of the best (almost) untouched regional ingredients is a must. And the place where you can fairly easily do that for a wide range of produce, meat, fish or cheese, depending on where your interest lies, is a street market.

In France, not unlike Italy or Spain among many other countries, markets have been at the heart of our culinary tradition for quite a long time (if such an expression can apply to at least 10 centuries). The reason may be that they offer a unique forum where the home-cook, the farmer, the professional chef and of course the produce all interact (a cultural thing all in all). Not so shocking in a country where food (and talking about it) is supposed to occupy so much room.

And unlike many other things French, our markets have been fairly resilient to the rise of the supermarket or globalization. The organic wave may even have strengthened them. I am almost sure they have also been a great source of inspiration for the creation of farmers' markets in places such as New York at Union Square or San Francisco at the Ferry Building. And I must say that I feel quite at home in both these places.

It is not to say that all French markets were made equal and offer the cream of the crop. However, those I visited (or revisited rather after so many years) in Nice, on the Cours Saleya, and Antibes presented wonderful seasonal and locally-grown fruits (amazing organic Menton lemons and sublime wild strawberries among other things) and vegetables (zucchini-flowers, tomatoes, ...) as well as fragrant herbs and appetizing preserved regional products (honey, nicoise and picholine olives, ...). And I could obviously not resist to show them on that blog. The only thing I regret is not being able to convey the smells, sounds and atmosphere typical of Provencal markets. To get a taste of that, you will have to pay them a visit.

PS: I'm obviously not the first blogger to post pictures of Mediterranean markets. I wish mine could be as gorgeous as those taken by Pim in Ventimiglia and San Remo that you can catch a glimpse of here and here.

Keep it simple: mini heirloom tomato salad

I'm leaving today for France and I suspect that tomatoes' season will be over when I'm back. That is the reason why I could not resist to buy these 5 beautiful "mini" heirloom tomatoes yesterday evening when I was shopping at Whole Foods. They are locally grown and bear the poetic names of Green Zebra, Cherokee Purple, Costoluto Genovese and Yellow Teardrop.

I like to serve these small wonders in the most simple way. I slice them, sprinkle some sea salt and drizzle an olive oil-Jerez vinaigrette on the top. No tossing, no dicing, no nothing: just the ingredient in its purest and primal shape. This is one my favorite salad because each type of tomato tastes different from sweet to acidic or tart and they form a perfect combination with the vinaigrette. In a nutshell, it is my way to celebrate the fruits of the summer and try to make it last a bit longer.

Ingredients:

5 heirloom tomatoes

3 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp Jerez Vinegar

Maldon sea salt

Black pepper

1. Slice each tomato and sprinkle a little sea salt on each slice.

2. Combine the olive oil, vinegar, a little sea salt and black pepper in a bowl. Whip to emulsify.

3. Drizzle the vinaigrette on the tomato slices.

Sunday dinner's good surprise: Vieux Telegraphe, La Crau, 2003

Every time my friend Bertrand joins us for dinner, he brings over a good bottle of wine. But Bertrand and I share the same weakness (and I'm not talking about wine here): we are both kind of last-minute guys. I usually make a decision about what to cook a couple of hours before dinner. He usually buys the above-mentioned and, more often than not expansive, bottle only a few minutes before taking the cab heading to my place. Since he has no idea of what we are going to eat and he must cope with the urgency of making a selection in a wine shop he does not know, this often results in very surprising food / wine pairings.

Yesterday was not an exception to this rule. I had planned to cook seabass with braised fennel (without telling Bertrand obviously). When he showed up and handed me the black plastic bag that contained the bottle, I knew I was in for a surprise. And a surprise it was: Vieux Telegraphe rouge 2003. The pairing with the upcoming dinner was far from obvious. But, as a native from Valence (France not Spain), I'm fond of Rhone wines and decided that we would drink it that night no matter what.

Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe was founded in the 20's and is still owned by the same family : the Bruniers. The vineyards are located on the Plateau de la Crau (which looks like a stone field) next to Chateauneuf-du-Pape. As a typical Southern red Rhone, the blend is mainly made of Grenache Noir (65%) but also contains Mourvedre (15%), Syrah (15%) and Cinsault / other varieties for the remainder. The wine is imported in the US by Kermit Lynch who provides a unique insight on this domaine in his wonderful Adventures on the Wine Route.

But let's get back to our bottle. Like all his fellows red Chateauneufs, Vieux Telegraphe 2003 is a full-bodied, powerful wine high in alcohol. It boasts a beautiful ruby-colored robe, ripe plum / cherry aromas and a long fruity finish. Although it was still a little too young, as evidenced by its rugged tannins, we all really liked this wine. And after all, seabass and red Rhone did not form such an odd couple. By the way, I should have known that since the paupiette of black sea bass with a Syrah sauce served at Daniel had been such a revelation the first time I had it.

Just so you know, we have just finished the bottle tonight with a chickpea salad, canned sardines and Saint Nectaire cheese. I already hear some people say: too simple a food for such a wine. To me, it just tasted like home.

N.B.: recipes mentioned in this post will be published subsequently.

Next on Aioli & Co

I have been slower than initially planned to update this blog with new posts. The main reason is that I have ordered a new digital camera that I still have not received. This should be solved, hopefully, by the end of this week and I should be able to upload mouth-watering (let's be modest) pictures in addition to plain text. But before that, if that can help, I just wanted to provide a sneak preview of what's to come:

-There will definitely be a post about my favorite book on Mediterranean cuisine with a sophisticated twist. A bible that I suggest everyone passionate about the subject should buy.

-Ratatouille should be the first recipe since the dish is still in season and remains so emblematic of the region this blog deals with.

-I will then provide a detailed account (as well as pictures) of my upcoming trip to Southern France and Riviera. It should also include stories / pictures of farmers' markets, food served in some of the best restaurants of the region and whatever surprise this trip will offer.

-As the first stop of this trip will be Paris, I may also take advantage of staying there to write about a couple of culinary experiences.

Why another food blog?

If you are reading this, we certainly belong to the same "tribe": the food lovers who cannot spend a single day without having their dose of food reading (in addition of good food itself), be it on the internet or elsewhere. And the world wide web indeed caters to every foodie category and particular interest: wine, recipes, restaurant reviews, regional foods, ... We all have our favorites sources to get our daily fix: as customary, some of mine are shown on the right sidebar of this page. I encourage you to visit those sites and enjoy the writing of incredibly talented individuals.

That being said, for a native of Southern France like me, options are much more limited when it comes to fully satisfy my passion for Provencale and Nicoise cuisines. There are obviously plenty of web sites containing plain recipes (often without the attractive pictures and proper background you could expect though) but nothing really more than that. And as far as blogs written in English are concerned, not much at all. Hence the "aioli" project.

I obviously do not claim to be THE expert on this topic (Elizabeth David, Richard Olney and Patricia Wells, among others, have done quite a good job, right?). I do not either pretend to fully address such a vast subject, which would be far too ambitious. My goal is simply to provide, above and beyond recipes, a personal insight on food, wine, cookbooks, restaurants and chefs of this region.

From time to time (and more often than not I must say), I might also venture into discussions on other Mediterranean cuisines since they all share, to a large extent, the same common heritage. I may also write about my culinary adventures in New York or wherever travel may take me. In a nutshell, I would like to share my passion for good food in general with a focus on Mediterranean in particular.