"Thank you again for making it such an amazing trip. It was so much more than a cooking course - it was a sensory experience of note, with a cultural and history tour included - so much more than what I bargained for."
—Mary K.
The Gourmand's Calendar For Provence
When you plan your trip to Provence, you can take a look here to see what you might see, eat, purchase, and enjoy.
January
This is a cold cold month in Provence. The Mistral blows, the earth is hard and our outdoor markets have a great variety of cabbage, squash, turnips, cardoon, leeks, onions and apples. When we go for walks we find almonds, dried ripened olives yet on the trees. A cold snap after a rainy day could make a mushroom hunt fruitful. We may still enjoy a bit of New Year's foie gras simply done en Pappillote. And those oysters and mussels are at their best. The truffles are at their most aromatic.
February
The cold continues, but the almond trees are in bloom, spring will come again. On a still clear day you can see all the way to the Sea from the hills around Les Baux de Provence. This is a hard month for local farmers, end of the winter vegetables, and not yet any springtime ones. But the cheese producers of all sorts offer rich and creamy rounds and slices from aged tomes. We might also enjoy some of the season's last cepes, girolles and other wild wood mushrooms brought down from the Cevennes hills. And in Carry le Rouet there's a festval of sea urchins. Yum yum!!
March
A month of contrasts. On a still day, it could be beautiful and mild. On a windy Mistral day, cold and daunting to the would-be hiker. There are more fruit trees in bloom, the plum trees have succeeded the almonds, pink and red where before the blossoms in sight were white. By the end of the month the apricot trees will join them. Look carefully along the side of the road, the Iris begin to bloom in rich violets and blues. The bees are lured out of their hives by the sunshine and flowers. It's a good time to taste wine, maybe even some early spring lamb. The baby goats have been weaned from their mothers, and this year's goat cheese production is well under way.
April
Ahh, now spring is upon us.
The first strawberries from Spain are available on the market. Delicate fresh sweet peas and
hearty white and green asparagus make their appearance as well. In the hills the thyme is
potent and flaunting its delicate pink flowers; while walking we might find some delicate
stalks of wild asparagus to make a crunchy salad. The bees are busy. The apple trees, peach
trees, and cherry trees cover the fields and hills in color. By the end of the month local
strawberry growers will offer us the flavorful garriguettes. Come join us for our Hiking and Feasting week! April 11-17. And for wine lovers in the area enjoy a wine tasting and pairing weekend at Domaine Cabanis
May
Delicious
strawberries, oval shaped garriguettes, tiny fraises des bois, large and vibrant red fraises de
Carpentras. White fava beans in their pods, the last asparagus, a few varieties of artichoke
(little violets, crisp green open petal). Perhaps some delicate green beans. And at the end of
the month, the first cherries. Walks in the hills bring a bounty of herbs to our basket, rosemary,
thyme, bay leaf, and fennel. For the brave, a dip in the Sea is a possibility (though the locals
won't follow you!). The first honey is ready, a bit of thyme honey, and toutes fleurs. The grape
vines start to sprout some leaves, filling in after their dormant winter. The new rosé wines
begin to grace our table, and the pungent flavor of new garlic spices up our salads and sauces.
A popular time to visit Provence, not too hot (especially early in the month), and all the cafes
have put their tables out under the trees on the square. This is a month I love hiking along the
cliffs overlooking the Mediterranean. Our special Bike the Alpilles for Gourmands is scheduled early this month, 30 April to 5 May. Join us!
And for those of you who'd like to improve your French, our French Immersion week is from May 30 - June 6, filled with cooking, excursions and opportunities to speak and exchange with our dearest friends.
June
Red cherries, pink cherries, white and deep purple, soon to
be joined by apricots, tiny and yellow, big and orange-red, then the yellow plums called reines claudes (time for making lots of jam).
Zucchini squash (courgettes) in its myriad forms, yellow and green, long, pale and fury. The local hot houses offer up their best efforts
at early tomatoes and eggplant. Basil plants are sold for a piddling, encouraging lovely pestos/pistous. We can swim in the Gardon river,
we can take our last walks in the hills of the Alpilles before we're shut out during brush fire season. The sheep are beginning to produce
less milk. Soon they'll head for the hills, to their summer grazing (the Transhumance can be witnessed in St. Remy de Provence). Our sheep
cheese makers welcome us for the last time until September. And here and there, figs and plums to be picked for our tarts. With the warmer
weather, a visit to the beach might be in order.And for those of you who'd like to improve your French,
our French Immersion week is from May 30 - June 6, filled with cooking,
excursions and opportunities to speak and exchange with our dearest friends.
July
The hot weather is upon us,
all of a sudden. Picnics on the beach are appealing, air conditioning a must in the car. And on the market, the sweetest melons
from Cavaillon, and succulent peaches towards the end of the month. Finally, real sun-ripened tomatoes, zucchini and egg plant
in extravagant variety. Tomatoes are small and large, oval and round, yellow, orange, purple, green and red. What glorious and
simple salads we can make. Eggplant/aubergines are deep purple, pale violet, white, round and long, small and large and every
size in-between. Baked, stuffed, rolled, fried, whipped... The possibilities are endless. At the wineries, it's soon time for
the "vendange vert". They'll clip off up to half a young vine's grapes to give more intensity to those that rest. We'll also be
eating less shellfish with the hot weather. But the anchovies will be plentiful and cheap, time to cure them in salt for next year.
The Lavender fields are in bloom in the Drome, shall we go for a drive to see their purple splendor? July 10/11 enjoy a wine tasting and pairing weekend at Domaine Cabanis.
August
This is a great month for those of you who love very hot weather, great tomatoes, peppers, and egg plant, honey, sweet corn and black berries. The peaches are plentiful, sweet and juicy, and the beaches only a half hour away. The lavender fields are in bloom in the Vaucluse. The pace is slow, by necessity. But the nights are long and balmy, wonderful for dancing, feasting, and enjoying good friends.
September
The
winemakers are readying the cellars, checking all their equipment, confirming the harvest team.
Has the summer been hot? have there been storms? too wet? too dry? From about the 5th they'll be
harvesting (the Vendange). If you come to visit just that first weekend, we can go see those vines
heavy and covered in ripe purple grapes. The market stands are full to bursting with sun-ripened
tomatoes, peppers, eggplant/aubergines, zucchini, green and wax beans, salads and the so many
fruits including plums and peaches, the first table grapes, apples and pears, yellow melons,
plus a wide variety of honey including the new batch of lavender honey from the hills of the
Vaucluse and the Drome. Our friends the sheep cheese makers are busy with the rich milk of the
newly weaned ewes. We can now enjoy our favorite fresh brousse and young tomes again. And with
them, the second fruiting of the fig trees. Come join us for my Hiking and Feasting week! September 19-25.
October
The last of the tomatoes, already they're a paler rose color, not such a vibrant red. Soon we can
make green tomato jam. The shell fish are again abundant, we might even catch a sight of the small
tuna of the Mediterranean, not to mention spiny, speckled pink and black fish (scorpion fish in
English, Rascasse in French). Our favorite supplier of fresh eggs has fewer and fewer. The green
beans are larger and tougher, the speckled cranberry beans are still available for a good soupe
au pistou, as well as the last of the fresh basil. Towards the end of the month we are again
welcome at the wineries and might even get to taste the new wines from the tanks... The pastry
and chocolate makers are gearing up for the holiday season, and one or two lucky students can
now enjoy private hands-on chocolate classes. Hearty stews like the Daube Camarguaise, the
Carbonade de mouton, Pieds pacquets, favorites of the Rhone mariners, warm the heart. And,
the only time in the year, we can prepare our famous Duck stuffed with green olives and
surrounded by fresh figs confites with the first harvest of the olives and the last of the figs.
We can also have figs baked in the oven with goat or roquefort cheese. Would you like to improve your French? our French Immersion week is from October 10-17, filled with cooking, excursions and opportunities to speak and exchange with our dearest friends.
November
It's high mushroom season again. Shall we head to the Cevennes and search for Cepes and chestnuts,
maybe some black trumpets of death (don't let the name fool you, they're delicious)
Do you like crème de marron with crème fraîche or yogurt?
A hearty red wine accompanies a simple fricassé of cepes with pureed
garlic and parsley. Get out your sweaters and hats, but keep on your sun glasses.
In the land of the Mistral, it's blustery, bright and could blow you over.
Foie gras, hot, hearty soups, the first cardoon, an abundant choice of squash, including my favorite the potimaron squash. The olive harvest is underway and the mills will be hard at work pressing that lovely warm green fluid to enrich our meals throughout the next year. We could even go help Sophie or Jean Paul pick olives...
December
A time to prepare for the holiday season. A time of dark mornings and early evenings. We rarely get snow here in Provence, but the ground does harden, and the wind blows cold. Truffle season gets going at then end of November, and we'll be off to the market with our students for Truffles/foie gras classes. It's a time for nourishing meals such as duck confit, sharing a warm drink with friends, and cozying up by a fire. In Provencal homes, the santon figures will come out. The creche will be set up on one side of the room, without baby Jesus as he's not born yet, and the three kings on the other side of the room, as they make their way to the stables for the magical day of December 25th. The evening of the 24th there are many different "messes de minuit" in the Camargue and in Les Baux, in the tiny village of Seguret, where you can hear the tale of Christmas in Provencal.
