Loved your article on Jacques Médecin, I lived on the Côte d'Azur from '85 to '90 and was well aware of this colorful man who 'owned' Nice! He was was a visionary who developed Sophia Antipolis hoping it would become the 'Silicon Valley' of Europe and started the American International School (AIS) to encourage international companies to come to Nice. Many did until the market crash in '88. I met him and his CA wife, their kids went to AIS of course, as did my son. Heady days until he got stung. I too have a copy of his cookbook, one of my treasures from this amazing adventure. Thanks for sharing this!
You've made me laugh out loud again, David, priceless writing. I have that Mireille J. Cookbook too, good reading as well as cooking. There are Youtubes with her available worth watching. She is a force.
David, so nice to see that shout-out for Mireille Johnston's wonderful book on the food of Provence. Her charm and enthusiasm come through so strongly and the recipes are fine too--but mostly it's the personality that shines. She left the table at much too young an age.
I hate to rain on Mireille Johnston's parade, but in my 39 years of living in Europe, 29 of which have been spent in the south of France, I have never once seen a lima bean. It is a vegetable I absolutely adore and have found fève (fava beans) to be a wonderful substitute, especially the peeled ones from the freezer store Picard. I tried growing lima beans here but didn't have much success. I have eaten a number of Salade Nicoise in the Nice Antibes area and have never had a fève or a lima bean in it. I used to order the salad often but these days I find it so adulterated that I stopped ordering it.
I am a bit puzzled by the use of fava beans since they are a spring veg and do not quite fit in with the rest, season-wise. (Same for tiny raw artichokes)
Always fun, interesting and a learning experience reading your posts. Plus great recipes, a little insight into you life and pictures-what more could one ask for. Merci😉
After visiting Nice we started ordering olive oil directly from Oliviera online. It’s expensive to ship to the US, but worth it. We buy a few cans every autumn when the new harvest is ready.
Hi David, I think it's perfectly fine to use frozen fava beans, because the fresh fava bean season is so short! I may have a bag of those Picard peeled favas in my freezer. Fresh ones were hard to find in the US (where I lived anyway) and so expensive when you did find them! I remember finding some blanched, vacuum packed ones once, but they were overcooked.
This sounds delicious and fun to eat. I think when we get hung up on authenticity we forget that cookbooks and even history books are written by, y’know, people. So everything we know is filtered through a personal lens. Also let’s just eat sandwiches because sandwiches are beautiful, sandwiches are fine.
A lively (and tasty) post about an iconic sandwich, the recipe of which is, nevertheless, open to interpretation. I like to things kept simple, so no favas, Lima beans, or celery for me, but tomato, cucumber, tuna, basil, slivers of red onion, drenched in olive oil and heaped onto a ciabatta roll. It’s economical and delicious snd fun to make!
Great article. Though I got lost in the qeeds researching Jacque Medicin and his wives! Nice that you mentioned Rosa Jackson, I've been recipe testing , along with others, over the winter for her new cookcook.
Thanks David. Until I read this, I had completely forgotten this sandwich, perhaps because I went veg years ago. Even weirder, I had no idea this was a thing outside of my family where it appeared, ingredients stacked prettily, on a whole loaf of bread that was then doled out at the table like a muffuletta. Memere did lament that we kids were not “good French,” and here’s more proof!
Loved your article on Jacques Médecin, I lived on the Côte d'Azur from '85 to '90 and was well aware of this colorful man who 'owned' Nice! He was was a visionary who developed Sophia Antipolis hoping it would become the 'Silicon Valley' of Europe and started the American International School (AIS) to encourage international companies to come to Nice. Many did until the market crash in '88. I met him and his CA wife, their kids went to AIS of course, as did my son. Heady days until he got stung. I too have a copy of his cookbook, one of my treasures from this amazing adventure. Thanks for sharing this!
You've made me laugh out loud again, David, priceless writing. I have that Mireille J. Cookbook too, good reading as well as cooking. There are Youtubes with her available worth watching. She is a force.
Thank you for the excellent recipe.
David, so nice to see that shout-out for Mireille Johnston's wonderful book on the food of Provence. Her charm and enthusiasm come through so strongly and the recipes are fine too--but mostly it's the personality that shines. She left the table at much too young an age.
I hate to rain on Mireille Johnston's parade, but in my 39 years of living in Europe, 29 of which have been spent in the south of France, I have never once seen a lima bean. It is a vegetable I absolutely adore and have found fève (fava beans) to be a wonderful substitute, especially the peeled ones from the freezer store Picard. I tried growing lima beans here but didn't have much success. I have eaten a number of Salade Nicoise in the Nice Antibes area and have never had a fève or a lima bean in it. I used to order the salad often but these days I find it so adulterated that I stopped ordering it.
I am a bit puzzled by the use of fava beans since they are a spring veg and do not quite fit in with the rest, season-wise. (Same for tiny raw artichokes)
David’s posts are always fun, and his books too.
Always fun, interesting and a learning experience reading your posts. Plus great recipes, a little insight into you life and pictures-what more could one ask for. Merci😉
Please tell Americans that the “S” in salade nicoise should be pronounced. I’ve heard it said Niceswa too many times.
After visiting Nice we started ordering olive oil directly from Oliviera online. It’s expensive to ship to the US, but worth it. We buy a few cans every autumn when the new harvest is ready.
All these years, I called it Pain Bagnat, thinking pain was correct because it is a sandwich.
Summer on a Bun! (I had to say it.)
Hi David, I think it's perfectly fine to use frozen fava beans, because the fresh fava bean season is so short! I may have a bag of those Picard peeled favas in my freezer. Fresh ones were hard to find in the US (where I lived anyway) and so expensive when you did find them! I remember finding some blanched, vacuum packed ones once, but they were overcooked.
This sounds delicious and fun to eat. I think when we get hung up on authenticity we forget that cookbooks and even history books are written by, y’know, people. So everything we know is filtered through a personal lens. Also let’s just eat sandwiches because sandwiches are beautiful, sandwiches are fine.
A lively (and tasty) post about an iconic sandwich, the recipe of which is, nevertheless, open to interpretation. I like to things kept simple, so no favas, Lima beans, or celery for me, but tomato, cucumber, tuna, basil, slivers of red onion, drenched in olive oil and heaped onto a ciabatta roll. It’s economical and delicious snd fun to make!
Great article. Though I got lost in the qeeds researching Jacque Medicin and his wives! Nice that you mentioned Rosa Jackson, I've been recipe testing , along with others, over the winter for her new cookcook.
Thanks David. Until I read this, I had completely forgotten this sandwich, perhaps because I went veg years ago. Even weirder, I had no idea this was a thing outside of my family where it appeared, ingredients stacked prettily, on a whole loaf of bread that was then doled out at the table like a muffuletta. Memere did lament that we kids were not “good French,” and here’s more proof!