fredon44

I am a newcomer to this fabulous site,and ask your suggestions.We love to sample local food specialties from street food to cafe food to meals which are particular to the area we are in.As we make our way through S.France,via Nice,Aix,Arles and Carcassonne what are the local specialties we should be alert to,and where can we find them?? Your suggestions will be followed..and I look forward to sharing our finds upon our return

Cowboy1968

If sweets & candy count, too:
Nougat from Sault (Provence, Dep. Vaucluse)
http://www.nougat-boyer.fr/

zootsi

We just got back from 10 days in Provence, and we had some regional specialties (and a lot of pizza and pasta!).
pistou - Provence's version of pesto. Usually made with ground tomatoes, basil, garlic. Served with pasta or in soups.
daube - a beef stew, sometimes with raviolis.
linguine with salmon and cream sauce.
chicken provencale - a chicken leg stewed in a tomato & green pepper sauce.
socca - A chickpea flatbread served on street corners in Nice, often cooked on a steel drum.
salads with goat cheese.
salad nicoise - a green salad with lots of tuna, hardboiled egss, anchovies, and greenbeans.
There are also several types of seafood soups.
Pastis - Anisette flavored apertif, mixed with water (not for everyone!).
And lots of rose wine!

ira

Hi F,

"Garlic, tomatoes and olive oil are the major trademark of Provençal cooking. Onions, olives, mushrooms, anchovies and eggplant also play a prominent part in many of these dishes".

Carcassone is known for its Cassoulet. See http://tinyurl.com/2bvwpc

traveller1959

soupe de poissons - fish soup
bouillabaisse - fish soup (whole fish)
brandade - stockfish paste
ratatouille - mixed vegetables
anchoïade - anchovi paste
pan bagnat - sandwich with salade nicoise
pieds et paquets - lamb feet and stomach
pissaladiere - onion tarte with anchovis
oursin - sea urchin
pistou - paste of basilic, herbs, olives

and of course meat, fish etc. prepared in provence style (with mediterranean vegetables, herbs, olive oil)

StCirq

I'd add tapenade: an olive spread. There are all kinds of variations on it, all of them good.
Bouillabaise: a wonderful fish stew.
Ratatouille: vegetable stew of eggplant, tomatoes, red peppers, garlic, onions, herbs and olive oil
Bourride: a hearty fish stew seasoned with ailoi (the regional garlic mayonnaise)
Panisse: molded chick pea flour or polenta fried and sprinkled with sugar
Pissaladiere: the local take on pizza
Bouzique oysters

Pvoyageuse

Aix is famous for its "calissons" (almond paste sweets)
Sète for its "moules à la sétoise" (mussels stuffed with sausage meat) for "bourride" (a sort of bouillabaisse)and for "tielles" (pies filled with seafood and tomato sauce)
Pezenas for its "petits pâtés" (meat pies)
Nîmes for "brandade de morue" (codfish puree)
Provence in general for ratatouille and tapenade, daube (beef stewed in white wine)
Nice for 'pissaladière" (pie with onions and anchovies), raïto (tomato and garlic sauce) estocaficado (codfish à la niçoise, tourte de blettes (white beet pie) and "soca" (the crepes made with chick pea flour)
Carcassonne and Castelnaudary for cassoulet of course, but also for pastries filled with cream called "Gloria" and Alleluia"... etc etc..... (the list is endless)

Underhill

In Nice, look for farçis, small vegetables stuffed with a ground meat/rice mixture; often served with a tomato coulis.

Vegetable (and sometimes meat) tians, a layered casserole prepared and served in a special baking bowl.

Orange wine, often served as an apéritif.