Escape to Provence

Food writer Caroline Rimbert Craig shares signature recipes from childhood visits to rural southern France – fit for a family feast. Photographs by Susan Bell

Southern French recipes for a family feast

MY FRENCH FAMILY have been working the land in Provence for hundreds of years. The values and lessons from such a life shaped the way I live, feel about home and cook for others. Growing up in the UK, Provence felt like a secret place. My grandfather, Maxime [Papé Xime], mows the grass under his olive trees at night so as not to disturb any bees. His mother, his sisters and his daughter, my mother Françoise, are the most talented home cooks, gardeners and foragers. My mother grew up on a fruit farm called La Cointe in the southern foothills of Mont Ventoux, surrounded by forests, fields and orchards. The women learnt to deal with a glut of produce, making something wonderful out of almost nothing. We no longer live in the farmhouse as an extended family, but we pitch in with each other’s grape, olive, truffle and cherry harvests, share produce and gather to eat seasonal dishes.

A typical family meal in Provence begins with a salad and bread, most often a big plate of well-dressed green leaves, generally frisée with a garlic dressing ora salade composée. Next, the main – a simple dish of saffron rice or something like a tarte de blettes [chard tart]. After this, we eat a piece of cheese, most often goat’s cheese, with more bread and a glass of red wine. The meal is rounded off with fruit and perhaps yogurt.

My culinary education involved watching and helping the women in my family. Later, I cooked Provençal dishes in London using Britain’s beautiful fruit and vegetables. I hope these recipes inject a joie de vivre and bring peasant cooking out of holiday nostalgia and into your kitchen, wherever you are. Provence: The Cookbook, by Caroline Rimbert Craig, is out now (Kyle Books, £22). Order your copy for £18.99 plus p&p at books. telegraph.co.uk or call 0844-871 1514