“Eating in Eighteenth-century Provence” – Institute for the Study of French Australian Relations (ISFAR) event – Sunday, 12th of November 2023:
You are warmly invited to the launch of Barbara Santich’s new book on Sunday 12 November, 2.30-4 pm at Foundry616, where Barbara will discuss her fascinating study of the development of the traditions and cuisine now considered typical of this region of France.
Price: $15 ($10 ISFAR members). Includes a glass of Provençal rosé and grignotines.
Contact email: elizabeth.rechniewski@sydney.edu.au
‘We have two cuisines in France, that of the north and that of the south’, boldly stated in the first cookbook directly concerned with southern French cuisine in 1830. This book investigates the reasons for and background to these differences, specifically in Provence. In the absence of cookbooks for the region in the 18th century, it uses innovative methodologies relying on a range of hitherto unexplored primary resources, ranging from household accounts and manuscript recipes to local newspapers and gardening manuals that focus on the actuality of the 18th-century Provençal table.
From a diverse archive of documents has emerged new evidence for the cultivation and consumption of potatoes and tomatoes in Provence and the origins and evolution of emblematic dishes such as bourride, bouillabaisse, and brandade.
In linking the coming-of-age of Provençal cuisine to post-Revolutionary culture, in particular the success of restaurants and the flourishing of gastronomic discourse, this book offers a new understanding of the development and evolution of regional cuisines.
