Provencal Cooking: Savoring the Simple Life in France

More than thirty years ago, Mary Ann Caws, then a young professor, moved to Provence to translate the poetry of Provençal poet René Char. What sounded like a simple romantic sojourn turned into a journey of self-discovery on the joys of living simply: good company, good food, and great wine, preferably from your neighbor’s vineyard. There was little else in the way of material goods. Her little cottage, her cabanon, had no running water, no heat, no electricity, and was missing a wall and almost half the roof. The rest of the place seemed held together only by weeds and brambles. Mary Ann and her family were never happier. The beauty of the olive trees, cherry orchards, marketplace and vineyards dictated the rhythm of their new lives. The process of preparing food and the sharing of it with friends and neighbors came to embody the essence of their existence on a hillside near the Mount Ventoux. Now, in this delightful and lyric meditation on Provence and its food, Mary Ann invites you to sit down at her table and share in some of her favorite recipes, the recipes of her neighbors, and her delicious memories of life in France.