Eva Longoria: Searching for France (2026) s01e03 Episode Script
Provence
♪♪
-I'm just off the coast of
Provence, and I have a dilemma.
-I could gaze for hours
at this coastline
that has mesmerized
visitors for millennia.
-I could bask on the most
glamorous beaches in the world.
I could stroll
through the glorious countryside
in a stunning swirl of colors,
or lose myself
in a thrilling ancient city.
Yeah, I could do all that.
-But you know me.
First, I gotta eat.
♪♪
-I'm Eva Longoria,
and I'm a serious Francophile.
-[ Speaks French ]
-Over the past 20 years,
my career as an actor
has brought me to France
time and again.
It's my home away from home,
but those trips were more
about work
than joie de vivre.
-[ Laughs ]
-Now I want something deeper.
This is going
to be an adventure.
-So I'm setting out
to really experience France
-This is Cabernet Sauvignon.
-[ Gasps ] That's my favorite.
-to savor
its world celebrated cuisine
-Wow.
-And explore the country's
rich history.
-Vive la France!
[ Laughter ]
-There's a reason why when
we dream of a perfect place,
it looks a lot like Provence.
-This is like lavender heaven.
-The sun-kissed landscape
of this corner
of the south of France
is world famous
and the glamour
of the French Riviera
is on another planet.
-And cue the sailboat.
-The beauty of Provence
is timeless,
but this place
never stands still.
There's a wild wind racing
through this region,
and it drives people here
to creative heights.
-Yes.
-Oh! It's roaring.
-For centuries, they've drawn
on all this beauty
-It's like the French Riviera
on a plate.
-lightened up French food
and changed the way
the world eats again
-Oh, my God, that's so good.
-and again
-And it's very good
with rosé.
-Everything is good with rosé.
-and again.
-Paris had their time.
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
[ Birds chirping ]
-I'm in the oldest city
in France,
and I know this is called
"Searching for France,"
not Italy,
but bear with me.
[ Speaking in French ]
Half-and-half, I
was told that's how I order it.
-Perched on the hot
Mediterranean coast
and closer to Italy,
Spain and even North Africa
than Paris is France's
second largest city,
the ancient
and unique Marseille.
Now, I'm not going to lie,
I'm feeling nervous.
This is extreme pizza,
one half pure melted cheese,
but the other a crazy amount
of anchovies,
which is pretty intense.
And somehow this half-and-half
is the city's favorite food.
-Of course,
herbes de Provence.
[ Laughs ]
♪♪
-The half-and-half
is made for shearing,
and I'm meeting
Valentin Raffali.
He's one of the new wave
of young chefs making
Marseille world famous
for its food.
-Val.
I came to your favorite spot.
-Yeah.
-Oh, that's perfect.
It's not too strong.
It's very subtle.
-Yeah. Soft, cheesy.
Oh, we like -- everybody
love that one.
-Now I'm trying
the anchovy side,
which is not my favorite.
-Yeah.
-Nope.
-No? [ Laughs ]
-Oh, that's intense.
-Super intense, yeah.
This is the Marseille contrast
in the pizza.
The tenderness is your side,
and that one is the deepness.
-The strong character.
-The strong character,
the loud people.
♪♪
-If Marseille folk feel
like big characters,
it's not without reason.
In wealthier parts of France,
you sometimes hear
that Marseille is a bit
of an embarrassment,
seen as a city full of crime
and immigrants and chaos.
While nobody denies
there are problems,
they also know that their
city has thrived for 2,500 years
by embracing the flavors
and cultures
of the entire Mediterranean,
mixing things up
and following its own star.
-Look at this.
-There you go.
-Oh, my gosh.
-We've come to
the highest point in the city,
the church
of Notre Dame de la Garde,
with views that stretch
from the Mediterranean Sea
to the mountains
that wrap around Marseille.
-It's a bit
like the mountains protect us
from the rest of France,
you know?
And this is the rest
of the world, and that's why --
-You guys have your arms
wide open.
-Yes, exactly.
-It's my first time
in Marseille,
and I don't know what to expect.
-It's a welcoming city,
but it's also wild.
The electricity is
definitely here.
We act like Italians.
We act like Corsicans.
We act like Northern African,
and here you better
not be late at the green light.
Otherwise, someone is like,
bam, bam.
Yeah.
-So, you were born here?
-Yes, I was born here,
and my dad is Moroccan.
-Okay.
-My mom is French.
So I'm the classic
Marseille product.
-Yeah.
Is Marseille closer
to French cuisine
or closer to a global cuisine?
-Yeah. You can feel the
influence of our countries.
Here we love garlic.
We love, like. fishes.
-Olive oil.
-Olive oil,
the best goat cheese, lamb.
Everything is strong here,
you know?
We're not the
richest city in France, right?
But culture and people,
we're the richest here.
Everybody has their time
in life, you know?
-Yeah.
-You know?
-Yeah.
-Young chefs like Val
have united
those feisty
Mediterranean flavors
and found themselves leading
a new era in French cooking
right here in Marseille.
The epicenter is just
behind the city's Arabic quarter
and the old port in the
neighborhood of Cours Julien.
-This is where you're from?
-Yes.
I mean,
here is the artistic soul.
That's where everything
crossed -- music, cinema,
and now a lot of restaurants.
And now I want to bring you
to one of my friend's place.
That's my friend Andréa.
-Uh-huh.
-She's my neighbor.
-Andréa Pittaluga opened
her restaurant, La Ola, in 2023.
-Hello.
-This is Andréa.
-[ Speaks French ]
-Welcome to La Ola.
-She brings in a
rotating list of resident chefs
for a month or two.
In the kitchen today
is Khouloude Ben Thayer.
She has Tunisian heritage
and is a huge favorite here.
-So nice to meet you.
[ Inhales deeply ]
I already smelled the
unique spices in this kitchen.
So, what are we making today?
-We're gonna make
tatin of lamb.
-Lamb tatin?
-Yes.
We're gonna make it
with rosemary pastry.
-Rosemary is
in the actual crust?
-Exactly, yeah.
-Khouloude's savory lamb tatin
is laced with gorgeous
Tunisian spices
she grew up with.
It's cooked with the crust
on top and then flipped over,
and is a twist
on the classic French dessert
of apple tarte tatin.
-In Tunisia,
we eat a lot of spicy.
We put harissa everywhere.
You know what is harissa?
-Yeah, I like harissa.
But harissa is not hot.
-It's supposed to be hot.
-Are you going to give me
harissa right now
just to prove a point?
-Yeah.
-And do I taste it like this?
-Yeah.
-Oh.
Oh, my God, that's so good.
-You see?
-[ Laughs ]
-It's coming after.
-It's coming now.
A lot of garlic
is this region,
or is it also in Tunisia?
-Yeah, we use a lot.
We love garlic.
We love onion.
-Khouloude thrives
on the freedom
that chef residencies
give her,
moving around the city
and the world,
sharing and discovering food.
-And what's this one?
-Ginger.
-Ginger.
-You can put everything.
-This is herbes de Provence?
-Yes.
-There's such a mix
of Marseille's
ingredients and Tunisia.
-Exactly.
In seven hours,
and you don't have to touch it.
This is amazing, no?
-Yes.
-[ Laughs ]
-I'm stealing this recipe.
Yeah.
-Voila.
-Do you normally cook
with wine?
I mean, drinking wine?
-Yeah, let's drink wine.
-[ Laughs ]
Why am I asking
a French person?
-[ Speaks French ]
-[ Speaks French ]
-So this one has
been cooking seven hours.
[ Gasps ]
Oh, my God, it's so tender.
That's gonna be so good.
-The last step is
to add the rosemary pastry.
[ Both speak French ]
-Ah!
We did good.
♪♪
-As the crust crisps up,
we head out to rejoin
Val and Andréa
for a feast of big,
bold Mediterranean flavors.
-Oh, my gosh.
-That's nice.
-I have to taste
this right away. Sorry.
-Yeah, let's go.
-And what is the cream in here?
Wow.
-Oh.
Really, really good.
-Oh, my gosh.
I love that I can taste
your Tunisian
heritage in this dish.
It's front and center,
but at the same time
in a tatin,
in a French way.
Wow.
It is so full
of love and history.
-You guys are so young
to be an entrepreneur,
to have this level of talent
at your age.
-It's thrilling
to be cooking and eating
with these amazing young chefs,
all still in their 20s,
who are changing the face
of French food.
-You work hard,
and at the end of the day,
it's always a good day.
-Yeah, because we are free.
-Wow.
-Oh, yeah.
-Cheers.
♪♪
♪♪
[ Birds chirping ]
-It's often said
that Marseille
is like a wide open mouth,
just gobbling everything
that comes into it from the sea.
-And it's been like that
ever since
the ancient Greeks landed
their boats here,
bringing olive oil
and a recipe for a simple
fish broth cooked in seawater.
Good things take time, and after
2,500 years of fishing,
boiling, arguing and refining,
the result is a superstar
of French cooking --
Marseille's
famous bouillabaisse.
♪♪
I've been fascinated by
this legendary dish for years,
but I've never actually eaten
the real thing.
So I've arranged
to meet local chef,
poet and bouillabaisse
master Emmanuel Perrodin
down at Marseille's old port.
-Bouillabaisse.
-Bouillabaisse.
It's very linked
with the city.
All along the centuries,
it evolves with
the different ingredients
that first arrived here
in this spot because,
you know, Marseille
has a very special place
in the French cuisine.
-Because everything
entered here.
-Yeah, first here.
-Yeah.
-It evolves, but it has to stick
with the spirit of this dish.
You have to create
a kind of harmony from a mix,
from a chaos of the sea.
-Chaos, you create harmony.
-Exactly.
-Many of us Americans
first learned of this epic dish
through our own queen
of French cuisine, Julia Child.
-Today, we're going to do
fish soup and bouillabaisse.
-While Julia isn't here
to boil one up,
Emmanuel is on a quest to cook
it for me and some friends.
We need a huge range
of the Mediterranean's
strangest sea creatures.
-Is this the poisonous one?
-No, this one
is the poisonous one.
-Oh.
-It's called the Vive.
-Some here
say bouillabaisse is now
just a restaurant moneymaker.
But for Emmanuel, the ritual
around this dish still matters.
-Eating a bouillabaisse
is still, you know,
very unique habit.
I prepare it once a year
for my family.
We are going to buy two
of these.
-This guy.
-And this guy as well.
-My God.
[ Chuckles ]
-Marseille's
ancient port has seen the world
and its ingredients flow
in for over 2,500 years.
And the tastiest things
go into bouillabaisse pot,
along with an entire aquarium's
worth of flavorful, tiny fish.
-We are going to cook
just like a little stock.
-Together they will form
the support act for the big guys
we got down at the market.
-Oh, and there's a crab.
I see we have chili.
Is that peak?
-No, it's very delicate.
-Subtle.
-That sea salt?
-Yeah, it's sea salt.
-And then saffron.
-A bit of saffron.
-It smells amazing!
Does everybody
know this recipe
if you're from Marseille?
-So actually,
I think that there are
so many different recipes
of the bouillabaisse.
Everything I'm going to say,
you know,
will be a disgrace
to two others, so
[ Both laugh ]
And that's the good point
with this -- this recipe,
because you cannot grab it.
-Yeah. It's always evolving.
-Exactly.
-An orange?
-Just a little bit of the skin.
-Okay.
-While the stock bubbles,
it's time for the main event --
those famous fish of Marseille.
There's one guy
I'm most intrigued by.
He apparently brings a beautiful
flavor to the whole broth,
but is also legendarily ugly.
Ladies and gentlemen,
the red rascasse.
-And this is the big one.
-Ooh.
-I think that there's no -- no
bouillabaisse exists without it.
-He looks like a merman.
-Yeah, it is the ugly one.
-What do you mean
this is the ugly one?
He's so cute.
I love him.
I think he's handsome.
Which one is the poisonous one?
-This one.
-Why are we eating it?
[ Laughs ]
-Because it's so delicate.
-But are we going to die?
Am I going to go
to the hospital?
-No.
This fish is hides itself
in the sand.
-Oh. Oh, in the sand.
-Yeah.
-Oh, and then you
could step on it.
-Exactly.
-Oh, my gosh.
So that would have venom in it,
and this part as well.
Yeah, let's, --let's get rid of
those things.
[ Chuckles ]
I used to do this
when I was little with my dad.
-Really?
-Yeah, this right there.
Alright.
What other fish is
in this party?
-This is the John Dory.
We call it St. Pierre.
-Uh-huh, St. Peter.
-Touched, you know, the skin
of the fish with --
-Oh.
That's why it's called
St. Pierre?
-Yeah.
-This mark is
St. Peter's fingerprint?
-Yeah, exactly.
-It's a holy fish.
-It's a holy fish.
-[ Chuckles ] Alright.
What fish is next?
Oh, gosh.
Ah!
-This is another treasure.
Yeah.
[ Both laugh ]
-At all.
Uh, hi.
-There's no bouillabaisse
and no stock without this.
-Okay.
What flavor does this give?
Yep.
-I love that smell.
-Good for you.
-Yeah.
[ Both laugh ]
I love it.
-You truly are from the south.
Is all this fish from here?
-Yeah.
-You guys have a variety.
-Yeah, we are so lucky.
-Yeah.
And that's all of our fish.
-Yeah.
-I think it's ready.
-Yeah.
-That stock Emmanuel made
with all the tiny fish,
that now needs to be smushed
down into an intense broth,
ready to play an important role.
-A lot of work for a fish soup.
Okay, now,
this is the second stage?
-Yeah.
-Oh, and now the stars
of the show.
-I'm not a star.
-Oh, my goodness.
-We put the fish that will
take the longest at the bottom.
-Yeah, because that's dense.
It's so exciting.
Then our poisonous friend.
-Exactly.
-Now the broth
of all those tiny fish
is poured onto the bigger fish.
-Look at the color.
It almost looks like
a lobster bisque.
-And Emmanuel turns up the heat.
-Full maximum.
-Bouill is boiling,
and baisse
is lowering the heat.
-Exactly.
-And that's the name.
-[ Both ] You bouill and baisse.
[ Laughs ]
Is it bouilling yet?
-Yes.
-Oh, it's roaring!
-So we are going to low
and going to forget it
for just like 30 or 40 minutes.
-Okay.
-Santé.
-To share this special moment,
I'm catching up with my old
Marseille friend Virginie
and her husband, Ben.
-Ah, voila.
-Voila. Hello.
-Just as we cook
the bouillabaisse in two stages,
it's also traditionally
served in two stages.
First, the broth
from the tiny fish.
-So, have you guys
ever had bouillabaisse?
-Yeah.
-Yeah?
-Last time I've
been eating bouillabaisse
was with my grandma.
-Oh.
The broth is served
with slices of baguette
slathered in an intense,
garlicky
saffron sauce called rouille.
-Oh, you put it in the soup?
-Yeah.
-Okay.
You're not from Marseille.
How do you know this?
-It's my first time.
[ Laughter ]
-This has so many
different fish,
but it all
kind of comes together.
-Yeah, exactly.
-Yeah, yeah.
-Organized chaos.
-Yeah.
-Okay,
so this is the first part.
What's the second part?
-The fish.
-The fish.
-Voila.
-Wow.
-Those extraordinary fish
-have been bouilled up
and baissed down in this stock,
and are now served
with vegetables and potatoes.
-I love that the two stages
are served this way as well.
We eat the broth
and then we eat the fish.
It doesn't feel formal,
but it does feel ritual.
Mm. I'm gonna taste
the ugly fish.
Oh, I like him.
And he's not ugly.
-Now that I've experienced
the bouillabaisse, I get it.
Somehow, in all the chaos,
something magical happens.
It may have been 2,500 years
in the making,
but it's definitely
worth the wait.
-[ Laughs ]
♪♪
♪♪
-There are few places on earth
as heavenly
as the Provence countryside.
It's inspired travelers,
artists and chefs for centuries.
I'm leaving Marseille
and heading
inland to Chateau La Coste.
The colors
and perfumed scents swirling
in the air carried on
the magical mistral winds.
And I feel doubly lucky,
because today
I get to meet one of the world's
most famous chefs,
and she is known
for using this unique landscape
and making beautiful food.
And this is her herb garden.
It all starts here.
[ Conversing in French ]
Hélène Darroze is one of the
greats of modern French cooking.
She currently holds a total
of six Michelin stars
and runs two of the top
restaurants in Paris and London.
But I'm meeting her here in the
Provence countryside she loves.
-Oh, I love this garden.
-Yeah.
This is the garden
where we have all
the herbs, and you can smell.
-I smell everything.
What is this one?
-This one is chives.
-I smell it.
♪♪
-I love that you are --
are one of the few chefs
in the world that -- that lead
with scent in your cooking.
You always start with
how does it smell.
-For sure,
smell is one of the scents
that it's very, very important.
When I smell something, I know
if the dish is a success or not.
-Really?
-Yeah.
-Oh, Rosemary.
-Rosemary. Yeah, exactly.
Young one.
-So Rosemary is one
of the main herbes de Provence.
-Exactly. There are four.
You have rosemary.
-Uh-huh.
-You have thyme.
-Right
-You have oregano,
and you have the marjoram.
-You know what?
Because in the United States,
I just buy a bottle
that says herbes de Provence.
-Yeah.
-I don't know what's in it,
but it's really good
and I put it on chicken.
-Yeah.
And they are dry.
-And they're dried.
-Yeah.
-How did you enter
this profession?
-I'm born in a kitchen.
I'm the fourth generation
of the family to cook.
-Four generations?
-Yeah.
-You're one of two women
in France
that has three Michelin stars?
-Yes.
-Is it harder for women
in France
or in general in the world?
-On the contrary,
I say I'm lucky enough
to live my passion
through my job.
-If you haven't heard of
Hélène's fabled reputation
in the kitchen, if your family
is anything like mine,
you will definitely
know her from the movies.
Hélène was the inspiration
for the talented chef Colette
in the hit animated film
"Ratatouille."
-One day we had
a phone call from Pixar,
and at the beginning I said,
well, okay, no.
I don't know.
-This is me.
-Yeah.
-You're going to be
in a Pixar movie.
-Yeah.
And after, oh, my God.
-They followed you
in the kitchen?
-Yeah.
-To get inspiration?
-Follow me in the kitchen,
looking at me,
how I work, et cetera.
-Now it's my turn
to watch the master at work,
and she's making her
Provencal classic just for me.
-We'll prepare a ratatouille.
A ratatouille?
-Yes, for sure.
-What is a ratatouille?
Because I have
a different opinion about it.
I don't think I've
ever eaten a good ratatouille.
-It's coffee, vegetables,
I will say.
-Yeah.
-Mixed together.
-Vegetables mixed together.
-Yeah.
We have to be very careful
not to put too much oil,
because all these vegetables,
they can keep
the oil inside and then --
-Just mushy.
-Yeah.
-Yeah.
-Traditionally, it seems
that the ratatouille
you cook
all the vegetables separately.
-Uh-huh.
-Me, I cook them all together.
But you have to go
step by step.
-Is it the herbes de Provence?
-Yeah.
-This is that smell.
And garlic.
-And garlic.
-Everything in Provence
has garlic.
-Yeah, for sure.
-[ Laughs ]
♪♪
It smells like herbes
de Provence with garlic.
[ Laughs ]
But I love how
you've given each vegetable
its own time
to join the party.
-Exactly. That's the key.
The good balance.
-Yeah, the balance.
-It's the question of balance.
-The balance.
-Hélène may be keen
to cook me a simple
Provencal country dish,
but she could never
just throw this into a bowl
with a hunk of bread.
-Oh, my.
-Look at that.
-This is gorgeous.
Look at these.
-These are so beautiful.
-Hélène's using
fresh zucchini flowers.
-Voila.
All the way to the top.
And then --
-And then you close.
That's it, and we will cut them
a little bit in the oven.
And that's done.
Sometimes it's better
to cook with instinct
than with technique.
-Why do you think
there's so much technique
in French cuisine?
I mean,
it's associated with technique.
-Because they are done by men.
[ Both laugh ]
And men, they always
want to demonstrate something.
Okay.
-Oh.
-Yes.
-Gorgeous.
This is one of the
most beautiful dining rooms.
It feels like we're floating
with Provence in the background.
-Exactly. Yeah.
You don't need a designer
to -- to design the room
because you have the nature.
-Yeah.
Kind of like your
philosophy of cooking is, like,
when you have such
a good product,
why do too much to it?
-Exactly.
Let's be humble
in front of that, you know?
[ Wind blowing ]
-These are the
howling mistral winds, huh?
-It's incredible. Huh?
Can you hear that?
[ Wind whistling ]
-Do you hear the sound?
-Yeah.
-I love those winds.
♪♪
-Oh, wow.
-[ Speaks French ]
This is so beautiful.
And what is this?
-Uh, it's a zucchini cream
with olive oil
inside with herbes de Provence
and a little bit of basil.
-Okay.
-Yeah.
-Let's start inside
with the ratatouille.
It's never been presented
as beautiful as this.
-Mmm. Wow.
-Taste also now
with the olives.
-Oh, that goes so well
with the ratatouille.
Wow. And you know what?
It's perfectly mixed.
It doesn't taste
like one mushy thing.
I can taste every vegetable.
-Yeah.
-Hélène has perfected exactly
how to let Provence shine
through her food.
-Wow.
-The result is
utterly exquisite.
-And inside this flour,
the perfect touch.
-Ratatouille. [ Laughs ]
-Mhm.
That is Provence.
♪♪
♪♪
-This gorgeous coastline
defines the glamour and style
of France just as much
as the catwalks in Paris --
The French Riviera.
-Every summer,
millions of people,
including me during
the Cannes Film Festival,
flock here
for the sunshine and glitz
that the coast of Provence
has made its own.
-I'm headed to the place
where it all began.
♪♪
Along the shoreline
from St. Tropez,
Cannes and Nice
sits the Hotel du Cap,
one of the most famous hotels
on Earth.
I've been fortunate enough
to visit a few times,
and I'm thrilled to be back,
mainly for one iconic salad.
I'm meeting writer and
Riviera resident Lanie Goodman
to find out why
the world keeps falling in love
with Provence coast
and its food.
-Lanie.
-Hello.
-How are you?
-I'm great.
♪♪
[ Bell dings ]
-Lanie's ordered us
the perfect Riviera lunch.
-Wow.
-Well, look,
there's a sailboat right there.
-Oh, my God.
And cue the sailboat.
-It's hard to believe,
but when the hotel
opened over 150 years ago,
the Riviera was
a sedate winter spot
for visiting British
aristocrats,
who fled as soon
as the hot summer rolled around.
Before that,
nobody would be in
the south of France
in the summer.
The season was winter.
-Yes, because you were --
it was not fashionable
to be tan.
-In 1923,
everything turned upside down
when a young American
couple convinced the hotel
to stay open for the summer
and invited all their friends.
And when your friends happen
to be F. Scott Fitzgerald,
Coco Chanel, and Picasso,
you're sure to start a scene.
-By '29, it was full
of Americans here.
It did actually become
what Scott Fitzgerald called
a celebrity circus.
It had become the place to be.
The women were wearing
silk pajamas.
-I personally
haven't brought silk pajamas,
but I have come
with a craving for one simple
but perfect meal here.
Head chef Sébastien Broda
knows how to bring the sunshine.
-Bonjour, Chef.
-Bonjour.
-Bonjour.
-There's the regular
Nicoise salad ingredients
like fresh tomatoes,
peppers, olives and tuna.
But some things
you might expect are missing.
-It's so beautiful.
-This salad is now
a classic across the world,
though its roots
on this coastline
are sometimes forgotten.
-I don't think people know that
it's called a Nicoise salad
because Nicoise meaning
from Nice.
-And there have been so many
different variations
of the salad.
Americans put potatoes in it
-Yes.
they put -- they put all
kinds of things,
and they're
not one lettuce leaf.
-And all vegetables
must be raw.
-Yes.
-Mmm. Mmm.
-The tomatoes, they have
a taste here that nowhere else.
-Oh, my God.
Magnifique.
-Merci.
-Merci. Merci.
-Merci.
-Wow.
Why do you think
this salad has become so popular
throughout the world.
-Well, it's like
the French Riviera on a plate,
and people instantly feel
that they've come a long way
and they can kind of fantasize
about that.
-So we feel closer
to the French Riviera
if I order this in Texas?
-Exactly.
And, oh --
Yeah. Yeah.
[ Laughter ]
-I have to tear myself away
from lunch with Laine
as I have an invite
along the coast.
Recently, the world
has enthusiastically embraced
another delicious way
to be transported
to the French Riviera.
I'm heading away from
the holiday-makers to Bandol,
a tiny region
that's home
to some of the very best
rosé on Earth.
In the ancient vineyards,
I'm meeting winemaker
Claire Bunan,
whose family arrived here
from Algeria in the early 1960s.
-When did you end up here?
-They come in 1962.
-Okay.
-My father Pierre,
and my uncle Paul.
-And why did they leave
Algeria?
-And that was
a very violent war.
[ Boat horn blaring ]
-When Algeria fought
for independence
against French colonial rule,
families connected to
the French administration
like Claire's fled in fear
across the Mediterranean.
Claire's father
and his brother were teenagers
when they got here,
and needed to decide
where to start their new life.
-And were they winemakers
in Algeria?
-Yes,
they make the wine in Algeria,
but they come here because
my uncle loved Marlon Brando.
-Marlon Brando?
-Yes.
And he read in a newspaper
he was here.
-What was Marlon Brando
doing in Bandol?
That's so random.
-Yes.
In Bandol, he was dating
the fisherman's daughter,
and he'd say, "Okay,
if Marlon Brando love Bandol,
I can live there."
-[ Laughs ]
So --
-So you guys relocated here
not because of the soil
or the weather for winemaking,
but because
Marlon Brando lived here.
-First Marlon Brando,
and second, because the soil.
-Rosé is made
in the same way as red wine,
but the dark grape skins
and juice
soak together
for a much shorter time,
giving the lighter pink color.
-Oh, it smells so good already.
-Yeah.
-What do you guys do
different than most rosés?
Because I feel
like you can go to a wine shop
and it's just like an aisle
of pink,
and people probably pick
based on color.
Nothing can be added to it.
And our specialty in Bandol.
-Okay. Mourvèdre.
-Mourvèdre.
That's why the color
is more dark.
-I'm excited to see the color.
Oh yeah, that is dark.
-Sunrise style.
-Oh, it's sunrise.
That is definitely one of the
darkest rosés I've ever seen.
Oh, that's lovely.
It's like peaches.
-Peaches, yes.
-Yes
I love when I get
the note right.
I had it backwards.
I was always picking
the lightest rosé on the shelf.
-Yeah, but now you can
-Now I know.
It's this kind I'm after.
-Four generations
of the Bunan family
have gathered to enjoy
the food and wine of the land
they've nurtured since they
first arrived over 60 years ago.
-This looks amazing.
-With us is Uncle Paul,
one of the original brothers.
Sitting regally
at the head of the table,
he reminds me
of the Godfather himself.
[ Laughter ]
-I want to try the onion.
-And it's very good with rosé.
Taste rosé --
-Everything is good with rosé.
[ Laughter ]
-Wherever we are in the world,
a simple salad Nicoise
or a glass of rosé
instantly connects us
to the sunshine and splendor
of this place.
It's almost as good
as being here.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-I won, I won!
[ Laughter ]
-Now you're from the south
of France.
-Now I'm from Provence.
-Provence.
[ Laughter ]
♪♪
♪♪
-I've traveled back
along the coast
and deep into
the historic heart of Marseille.
-These narrow,
winding streets
just behind
the old Marseille port
were once known as the
most dangerous place in France.
Over 150 years ago,
French high society
became obsessed with this idea
that Marseille
was full of criminals.
♪♪
-How are you?
-Alexis Steinman is
a food and travel
writer who unearths Marseille's
hidden histories.
♪♪
-So, where did
this negative reputation begin?
-So if you think of Marseille,
Marseille is a port city.
-Yeah.
-And so that means that all
these cultures,
all these people are coming in.
In the 19th century,
we had a lot of Italians
come to get work.
And there was people
called the Nervi,
and the Nervi were
sort of the thugs.
And so you can imagine
you have these skinny alleyways
and there was crime.
And so the Nervi were known
as the people
you wanted to stay away from.
-But how much of that
was just scapegoating
of the new immigrant community?
-It really became sort of
this overexaggerated cliché
that contributed
to this reputation
that Marseille is
this capital of crime.
-Life can be hard
in this ancient city.
Marseille has some of the
poorest areas in all of France,
but there's also
a long tradition of people here
looking for creative ways
to improve what they can
for everyone.
-This is beautiful.
-I really wanted to bring
you to this restaurant.
It's one of my favorite places
in Marseille,
and maybe in France.
This is called La République.
This restaurant is
really special
because it's a
social impact project.
-Okay.
-There are people who dine here
who would pay around 30 euros
to have a three-course meal,
and then about 35% of the people
who eat here are paying 1 euro.
-1?
-1 euro.
-And they get
the same meal?
-They get the exact same meal
and everyone's together,
and you don't know
who is paying a euro
and who is paying 30 euro.
-How is there
not a line out the door?
-So what happens is
they are working directly
with the nonprofits.
-Oh, and that's
-So they are reserving
in advance.
So it's not like you're saying,
oh, this person pays
for those persons.
-This people on this side
and these people.
-No, it's really, really mixed.
-We get to chatting
with our barman Guillaume
and here that this place doesn't
only take care of its guests.
-[ Laughs ]
-Building a place
as beautiful and buzzy as this,
while also upending the
business model of a restaurant
is an incredible achievement.
I need to meet the man who makes
it all happen,
Chef Sébastien Richard.
-Bonjour, Sébastien.
Also, you know,
for the people who work here,
it's an amazing opportunity.
Right.
It's like a snowball effect.
Yeah.
Transmitting that love
and passion that you have,
you can feel it.
-Sébastien and his team
use cost-effective local produce
and a whole lot of skill
to make Marseille favorites
that keep diners
coming back for more,
whether they're paying
full price or reduced.
-What did you think
of Sébastien?
-He's amazing.
-Sébastien likes to say
that this is a project
that could have only happened
in Marseille,
because this is a city
that's kind of bootstrapping,
that has to make
things happen for itself.
-Sébastien has made us
vitello tonnato,
an Italian classic
of tender veal,
usually served
with a creamy tuna-based sauce.
-He puts sardines
because sardines
is really our most popular fish.
It's not an expensive fish.
People like to grill them.
They like to smoke them.
-Every course is so exquisite
and fresh.
I can totally see
why Alexis loves this place.
-Mmm. Mmm.
It's so delicious.
It's an amazing concept.
-When it's time to settle up,
I've never been happier
to pay for a meal,
which also helps out
so many others.
-Normal. Full price.
-Merci.
-Merci.
-This corner of the street
is changing the world around it,
breaking down barriers
and making sure
this incredible
experience is available
to everyone in Marseille.
♪♪
-Oh!
-Mmm. [ Speaks French ]
-Oh.
[ Speaks French ]
-Those noises you can hear,
that's the sound of two women
completely losing their minds
at the traditional
Provencal market.
-[ Speaks French ]
Wow.
This is like lavender heaven.
Beautiful.
-I'm nearing the end
of my time here in Provence,
And I'm on the road
again with Alexis Steinman.
We're heading towards the
more rugged center of Provence,
where Alexis is promising
to take me
to the most extraordinary
dinner.
But we got distracted along the
way in the ancient town of Aix.
It's the birthplace of
visionary painter Paul Cézanne,
who, inspired by nature
around him, changed art forever.
-Bonjour.
-Bonjour, monsieur.
He was really famous
for using the apple,
and it was really revolutionary
what he was doing,
because he was painting
rustic food.
-At a time when French art
favored overblown paintings
of grand historical scenes,
Cézanne went right back
to basics,
capturing the simplest things
almost alive
in their moment in time.
-You can tell he got
inspiration from this area.
The light here is stunning.
The colors here,
not just in the market.
A lot of artists,
not just Cézanne,
came down because of the light.
You know, we have this
crazy wind called the mistral.
-Yeah.
-And that cleans the sky.
And so you have this
really beautiful soft light.
And Cézanne's claim to fame
was light.
-They, like,
jumped out at you.
They were almost 3D.
-They vibrate almost.
And so that's also
when you look at them
that gives you this emotion.
-Wow.
-In the 1860s, Cézanne left
Provence and traveled to Paris,
convinced he would
revolutionize art.
Instead, his paintings
were mocked as unsophisticated,
and he was seen
as an oddball yokel.
Undeterred, he left the city
and returned to the South
to pursue his
revolutionary vision.
-Some say that it's really where
he found his voice as an artist,
because he was so enamored
with the light, with nature.
-As we head further
into the countryside,
I'm stunned by a vast,
brooding mountain
I've only ever seen
in paintings.
-This is beautiful.
-It's called
Montagne Sainte-Victoire,
and this is the mountain that
Cézanne painted over 80 times.
-Wow.
This landscape is, like,
dominated by this mountain.
It is overwhelming,
this sight, this view.
-It really became
the star of the painting
and also of the region.
People say it was his mistress
because he really spent
a lot of time with it.
-He must have been in love
with that mountain for sure
if he painted it 80 times.
-Exactly.
-I thought he liked the apple.
-[ Chuckles ]
-The way the Montagne
Sainte-Victoire
constantly changes in the light
captivated Cézanne
until the day he died in 1906,
his work still
largely unrecognized.
In 2022, one of his paintings
of this mountain
sold at auction
for $138 million.
Alexis has brought me
to an event that feels priceless
and perfectly Provencal.
-Wow.
-This dinner is for Cézanne?
-It's a special dinner
for Cézanne.
-I don't think I've ever had
a dinner this beautiful.
-Yeah.
-Hundreds of people
have gathered here at the foot
of Cézanne's mountain
to share a three-course meal
and celebrate food and art.
It's the creation of our friend
and bouillabaisse chef
Emmanuel Perrodin.
On the menu is the Provencal
food Cézanne loved,
including duck roasted
with olives
and local vegetables filled
with grains and ground meat.
And that's not all.
-Oh, my God. Apples!
Wow.
They are beautiful.
-For dessert, Cezanne's apples
reimagined as a fresh sorbet
and crisp white chocolate
and a fruit glaze.
-Wow.
From this tiny little painting
of an apple
to something as grand
as this mountain,
and he made both things
so personal and intimate.
It is a beautiful relation.
-From artists to chefs
and beyond, people in Provence
are delightfully open
to the world around them.
They draw inspiration
from nature
and from their
Mediterranean neighbors,
and blow out a creative energy
from this corner of France
to the entire world.
♪♪
-I'm just off the coast of
Provence, and I have a dilemma.
-I could gaze for hours
at this coastline
that has mesmerized
visitors for millennia.
-I could bask on the most
glamorous beaches in the world.
I could stroll
through the glorious countryside
in a stunning swirl of colors,
or lose myself
in a thrilling ancient city.
Yeah, I could do all that.
-But you know me.
First, I gotta eat.
♪♪
-I'm Eva Longoria,
and I'm a serious Francophile.
-[ Speaks French ]
-Over the past 20 years,
my career as an actor
has brought me to France
time and again.
It's my home away from home,
but those trips were more
about work
than joie de vivre.
-[ Laughs ]
-Now I want something deeper.
This is going
to be an adventure.
-So I'm setting out
to really experience France
-This is Cabernet Sauvignon.
-[ Gasps ] That's my favorite.
-to savor
its world celebrated cuisine
-Wow.
-And explore the country's
rich history.
-Vive la France!
[ Laughter ]
-There's a reason why when
we dream of a perfect place,
it looks a lot like Provence.
-This is like lavender heaven.
-The sun-kissed landscape
of this corner
of the south of France
is world famous
and the glamour
of the French Riviera
is on another planet.
-And cue the sailboat.
-The beauty of Provence
is timeless,
but this place
never stands still.
There's a wild wind racing
through this region,
and it drives people here
to creative heights.
-Yes.
-Oh! It's roaring.
-For centuries, they've drawn
on all this beauty
-It's like the French Riviera
on a plate.
-lightened up French food
and changed the way
the world eats again
-Oh, my God, that's so good.
-and again
-And it's very good
with rosé.
-Everything is good with rosé.
-and again.
-Paris had their time.
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
[ Birds chirping ]
-I'm in the oldest city
in France,
and I know this is called
"Searching for France,"
not Italy,
but bear with me.
[ Speaking in French ]
Half-and-half, I
was told that's how I order it.
-Perched on the hot
Mediterranean coast
and closer to Italy,
Spain and even North Africa
than Paris is France's
second largest city,
the ancient
and unique Marseille.
Now, I'm not going to lie,
I'm feeling nervous.
This is extreme pizza,
one half pure melted cheese,
but the other a crazy amount
of anchovies,
which is pretty intense.
And somehow this half-and-half
is the city's favorite food.
-Of course,
herbes de Provence.
[ Laughs ]
♪♪
-The half-and-half
is made for shearing,
and I'm meeting
Valentin Raffali.
He's one of the new wave
of young chefs making
Marseille world famous
for its food.
-Val.
I came to your favorite spot.
-Yeah.
-Oh, that's perfect.
It's not too strong.
It's very subtle.
-Yeah. Soft, cheesy.
Oh, we like -- everybody
love that one.
-Now I'm trying
the anchovy side,
which is not my favorite.
-Yeah.
-Nope.
-No? [ Laughs ]
-Oh, that's intense.
-Super intense, yeah.
This is the Marseille contrast
in the pizza.
The tenderness is your side,
and that one is the deepness.
-The strong character.
-The strong character,
the loud people.
♪♪
-If Marseille folk feel
like big characters,
it's not without reason.
In wealthier parts of France,
you sometimes hear
that Marseille is a bit
of an embarrassment,
seen as a city full of crime
and immigrants and chaos.
While nobody denies
there are problems,
they also know that their
city has thrived for 2,500 years
by embracing the flavors
and cultures
of the entire Mediterranean,
mixing things up
and following its own star.
-Look at this.
-There you go.
-Oh, my gosh.
-We've come to
the highest point in the city,
the church
of Notre Dame de la Garde,
with views that stretch
from the Mediterranean Sea
to the mountains
that wrap around Marseille.
-It's a bit
like the mountains protect us
from the rest of France,
you know?
And this is the rest
of the world, and that's why --
-You guys have your arms
wide open.
-Yes, exactly.
-It's my first time
in Marseille,
and I don't know what to expect.
-It's a welcoming city,
but it's also wild.
The electricity is
definitely here.
We act like Italians.
We act like Corsicans.
We act like Northern African,
and here you better
not be late at the green light.
Otherwise, someone is like,
bam, bam.
Yeah.
-So, you were born here?
-Yes, I was born here,
and my dad is Moroccan.
-Okay.
-My mom is French.
So I'm the classic
Marseille product.
-Yeah.
Is Marseille closer
to French cuisine
or closer to a global cuisine?
-Yeah. You can feel the
influence of our countries.
Here we love garlic.
We love, like. fishes.
-Olive oil.
-Olive oil,
the best goat cheese, lamb.
Everything is strong here,
you know?
We're not the
richest city in France, right?
But culture and people,
we're the richest here.
Everybody has their time
in life, you know?
-Yeah.
-You know?
-Yeah.
-Young chefs like Val
have united
those feisty
Mediterranean flavors
and found themselves leading
a new era in French cooking
right here in Marseille.
The epicenter is just
behind the city's Arabic quarter
and the old port in the
neighborhood of Cours Julien.
-This is where you're from?
-Yes.
I mean,
here is the artistic soul.
That's where everything
crossed -- music, cinema,
and now a lot of restaurants.
And now I want to bring you
to one of my friend's place.
That's my friend Andréa.
-Uh-huh.
-She's my neighbor.
-Andréa Pittaluga opened
her restaurant, La Ola, in 2023.
-Hello.
-This is Andréa.
-[ Speaks French ]
-Welcome to La Ola.
-She brings in a
rotating list of resident chefs
for a month or two.
In the kitchen today
is Khouloude Ben Thayer.
She has Tunisian heritage
and is a huge favorite here.
-So nice to meet you.
[ Inhales deeply ]
I already smelled the
unique spices in this kitchen.
So, what are we making today?
-We're gonna make
tatin of lamb.
-Lamb tatin?
-Yes.
We're gonna make it
with rosemary pastry.
-Rosemary is
in the actual crust?
-Exactly, yeah.
-Khouloude's savory lamb tatin
is laced with gorgeous
Tunisian spices
she grew up with.
It's cooked with the crust
on top and then flipped over,
and is a twist
on the classic French dessert
of apple tarte tatin.
-In Tunisia,
we eat a lot of spicy.
We put harissa everywhere.
You know what is harissa?
-Yeah, I like harissa.
But harissa is not hot.
-It's supposed to be hot.
-Are you going to give me
harissa right now
just to prove a point?
-Yeah.
-And do I taste it like this?
-Yeah.
-Oh.
Oh, my God, that's so good.
-You see?
-[ Laughs ]
-It's coming after.
-It's coming now.
A lot of garlic
is this region,
or is it also in Tunisia?
-Yeah, we use a lot.
We love garlic.
We love onion.
-Khouloude thrives
on the freedom
that chef residencies
give her,
moving around the city
and the world,
sharing and discovering food.
-And what's this one?
-Ginger.
-Ginger.
-You can put everything.
-This is herbes de Provence?
-Yes.
-There's such a mix
of Marseille's
ingredients and Tunisia.
-Exactly.
In seven hours,
and you don't have to touch it.
This is amazing, no?
-Yes.
-[ Laughs ]
-I'm stealing this recipe.
Yeah.
-Voila.
-Do you normally cook
with wine?
I mean, drinking wine?
-Yeah, let's drink wine.
-[ Laughs ]
Why am I asking
a French person?
-[ Speaks French ]
-[ Speaks French ]
-So this one has
been cooking seven hours.
[ Gasps ]
Oh, my God, it's so tender.
That's gonna be so good.
-The last step is
to add the rosemary pastry.
[ Both speak French ]
-Ah!
We did good.
♪♪
-As the crust crisps up,
we head out to rejoin
Val and Andréa
for a feast of big,
bold Mediterranean flavors.
-Oh, my gosh.
-That's nice.
-I have to taste
this right away. Sorry.
-Yeah, let's go.
-And what is the cream in here?
Wow.
-Oh.
Really, really good.
-Oh, my gosh.
I love that I can taste
your Tunisian
heritage in this dish.
It's front and center,
but at the same time
in a tatin,
in a French way.
Wow.
It is so full
of love and history.
-You guys are so young
to be an entrepreneur,
to have this level of talent
at your age.
-It's thrilling
to be cooking and eating
with these amazing young chefs,
all still in their 20s,
who are changing the face
of French food.
-You work hard,
and at the end of the day,
it's always a good day.
-Yeah, because we are free.
-Wow.
-Oh, yeah.
-Cheers.
♪♪
♪♪
[ Birds chirping ]
-It's often said
that Marseille
is like a wide open mouth,
just gobbling everything
that comes into it from the sea.
-And it's been like that
ever since
the ancient Greeks landed
their boats here,
bringing olive oil
and a recipe for a simple
fish broth cooked in seawater.
Good things take time, and after
2,500 years of fishing,
boiling, arguing and refining,
the result is a superstar
of French cooking --
Marseille's
famous bouillabaisse.
♪♪
I've been fascinated by
this legendary dish for years,
but I've never actually eaten
the real thing.
So I've arranged
to meet local chef,
poet and bouillabaisse
master Emmanuel Perrodin
down at Marseille's old port.
-Bouillabaisse.
-Bouillabaisse.
It's very linked
with the city.
All along the centuries,
it evolves with
the different ingredients
that first arrived here
in this spot because,
you know, Marseille
has a very special place
in the French cuisine.
-Because everything
entered here.
-Yeah, first here.
-Yeah.
-It evolves, but it has to stick
with the spirit of this dish.
You have to create
a kind of harmony from a mix,
from a chaos of the sea.
-Chaos, you create harmony.
-Exactly.
-Many of us Americans
first learned of this epic dish
through our own queen
of French cuisine, Julia Child.
-Today, we're going to do
fish soup and bouillabaisse.
-While Julia isn't here
to boil one up,
Emmanuel is on a quest to cook
it for me and some friends.
We need a huge range
of the Mediterranean's
strangest sea creatures.
-Is this the poisonous one?
-No, this one
is the poisonous one.
-Oh.
-It's called the Vive.
-Some here
say bouillabaisse is now
just a restaurant moneymaker.
But for Emmanuel, the ritual
around this dish still matters.
-Eating a bouillabaisse
is still, you know,
very unique habit.
I prepare it once a year
for my family.
We are going to buy two
of these.
-This guy.
-And this guy as well.
-My God.
[ Chuckles ]
-Marseille's
ancient port has seen the world
and its ingredients flow
in for over 2,500 years.
And the tastiest things
go into bouillabaisse pot,
along with an entire aquarium's
worth of flavorful, tiny fish.
-We are going to cook
just like a little stock.
-Together they will form
the support act for the big guys
we got down at the market.
-Oh, and there's a crab.
I see we have chili.
Is that peak?
-No, it's very delicate.
-Subtle.
-That sea salt?
-Yeah, it's sea salt.
-And then saffron.
-A bit of saffron.
-It smells amazing!
Does everybody
know this recipe
if you're from Marseille?
-So actually,
I think that there are
so many different recipes
of the bouillabaisse.
Everything I'm going to say,
you know,
will be a disgrace
to two others, so
[ Both laugh ]
And that's the good point
with this -- this recipe,
because you cannot grab it.
-Yeah. It's always evolving.
-Exactly.
-An orange?
-Just a little bit of the skin.
-Okay.
-While the stock bubbles,
it's time for the main event --
those famous fish of Marseille.
There's one guy
I'm most intrigued by.
He apparently brings a beautiful
flavor to the whole broth,
but is also legendarily ugly.
Ladies and gentlemen,
the red rascasse.
-And this is the big one.
-Ooh.
-I think that there's no -- no
bouillabaisse exists without it.
-He looks like a merman.
-Yeah, it is the ugly one.
-What do you mean
this is the ugly one?
He's so cute.
I love him.
I think he's handsome.
Which one is the poisonous one?
-This one.
-Why are we eating it?
[ Laughs ]
-Because it's so delicate.
-But are we going to die?
Am I going to go
to the hospital?
-No.
This fish is hides itself
in the sand.
-Oh. Oh, in the sand.
-Yeah.
-Oh, and then you
could step on it.
-Exactly.
-Oh, my gosh.
So that would have venom in it,
and this part as well.
Yeah, let's, --let's get rid of
those things.
[ Chuckles ]
I used to do this
when I was little with my dad.
-Really?
-Yeah, this right there.
Alright.
What other fish is
in this party?
-This is the John Dory.
We call it St. Pierre.
-Uh-huh, St. Peter.
-Touched, you know, the skin
of the fish with --
-Oh.
That's why it's called
St. Pierre?
-Yeah.
-This mark is
St. Peter's fingerprint?
-Yeah, exactly.
-It's a holy fish.
-It's a holy fish.
-[ Chuckles ] Alright.
What fish is next?
Oh, gosh.
Ah!
-This is another treasure.
Yeah.
[ Both laugh ]
-At all.
Uh, hi.
-There's no bouillabaisse
and no stock without this.
-Okay.
What flavor does this give?
Yep.
-I love that smell.
-Good for you.
-Yeah.
[ Both laugh ]
I love it.
-You truly are from the south.
Is all this fish from here?
-Yeah.
-You guys have a variety.
-Yeah, we are so lucky.
-Yeah.
And that's all of our fish.
-Yeah.
-I think it's ready.
-Yeah.
-That stock Emmanuel made
with all the tiny fish,
that now needs to be smushed
down into an intense broth,
ready to play an important role.
-A lot of work for a fish soup.
Okay, now,
this is the second stage?
-Yeah.
-Oh, and now the stars
of the show.
-I'm not a star.
-Oh, my goodness.
-We put the fish that will
take the longest at the bottom.
-Yeah, because that's dense.
It's so exciting.
Then our poisonous friend.
-Exactly.
-Now the broth
of all those tiny fish
is poured onto the bigger fish.
-Look at the color.
It almost looks like
a lobster bisque.
-And Emmanuel turns up the heat.
-Full maximum.
-Bouill is boiling,
and baisse
is lowering the heat.
-Exactly.
-And that's the name.
-[ Both ] You bouill and baisse.
[ Laughs ]
Is it bouilling yet?
-Yes.
-Oh, it's roaring!
-So we are going to low
and going to forget it
for just like 30 or 40 minutes.
-Okay.
-Santé.
-To share this special moment,
I'm catching up with my old
Marseille friend Virginie
and her husband, Ben.
-Ah, voila.
-Voila. Hello.
-Just as we cook
the bouillabaisse in two stages,
it's also traditionally
served in two stages.
First, the broth
from the tiny fish.
-So, have you guys
ever had bouillabaisse?
-Yeah.
-Yeah?
-Last time I've
been eating bouillabaisse
was with my grandma.
-Oh.
The broth is served
with slices of baguette
slathered in an intense,
garlicky
saffron sauce called rouille.
-Oh, you put it in the soup?
-Yeah.
-Okay.
You're not from Marseille.
How do you know this?
-It's my first time.
[ Laughter ]
-This has so many
different fish,
but it all
kind of comes together.
-Yeah, exactly.
-Yeah, yeah.
-Organized chaos.
-Yeah.
-Okay,
so this is the first part.
What's the second part?
-The fish.
-The fish.
-Voila.
-Wow.
-Those extraordinary fish
-have been bouilled up
and baissed down in this stock,
and are now served
with vegetables and potatoes.
-I love that the two stages
are served this way as well.
We eat the broth
and then we eat the fish.
It doesn't feel formal,
but it does feel ritual.
Mm. I'm gonna taste
the ugly fish.
Oh, I like him.
And he's not ugly.
-Now that I've experienced
the bouillabaisse, I get it.
Somehow, in all the chaos,
something magical happens.
It may have been 2,500 years
in the making,
but it's definitely
worth the wait.
-[ Laughs ]
♪♪
♪♪
-There are few places on earth
as heavenly
as the Provence countryside.
It's inspired travelers,
artists and chefs for centuries.
I'm leaving Marseille
and heading
inland to Chateau La Coste.
The colors
and perfumed scents swirling
in the air carried on
the magical mistral winds.
And I feel doubly lucky,
because today
I get to meet one of the world's
most famous chefs,
and she is known
for using this unique landscape
and making beautiful food.
And this is her herb garden.
It all starts here.
[ Conversing in French ]
Hélène Darroze is one of the
greats of modern French cooking.
She currently holds a total
of six Michelin stars
and runs two of the top
restaurants in Paris and London.
But I'm meeting her here in the
Provence countryside she loves.
-Oh, I love this garden.
-Yeah.
This is the garden
where we have all
the herbs, and you can smell.
-I smell everything.
What is this one?
-This one is chives.
-I smell it.
♪♪
-I love that you are --
are one of the few chefs
in the world that -- that lead
with scent in your cooking.
You always start with
how does it smell.
-For sure,
smell is one of the scents
that it's very, very important.
When I smell something, I know
if the dish is a success or not.
-Really?
-Yeah.
-Oh, Rosemary.
-Rosemary. Yeah, exactly.
Young one.
-So Rosemary is one
of the main herbes de Provence.
-Exactly. There are four.
You have rosemary.
-Uh-huh.
-You have thyme.
-Right
-You have oregano,
and you have the marjoram.
-You know what?
Because in the United States,
I just buy a bottle
that says herbes de Provence.
-Yeah.
-I don't know what's in it,
but it's really good
and I put it on chicken.
-Yeah.
And they are dry.
-And they're dried.
-Yeah.
-How did you enter
this profession?
-I'm born in a kitchen.
I'm the fourth generation
of the family to cook.
-Four generations?
-Yeah.
-You're one of two women
in France
that has three Michelin stars?
-Yes.
-Is it harder for women
in France
or in general in the world?
-On the contrary,
I say I'm lucky enough
to live my passion
through my job.
-If you haven't heard of
Hélène's fabled reputation
in the kitchen, if your family
is anything like mine,
you will definitely
know her from the movies.
Hélène was the inspiration
for the talented chef Colette
in the hit animated film
"Ratatouille."
-One day we had
a phone call from Pixar,
and at the beginning I said,
well, okay, no.
I don't know.
-This is me.
-Yeah.
-You're going to be
in a Pixar movie.
-Yeah.
And after, oh, my God.
-They followed you
in the kitchen?
-Yeah.
-To get inspiration?
-Follow me in the kitchen,
looking at me,
how I work, et cetera.
-Now it's my turn
to watch the master at work,
and she's making her
Provencal classic just for me.
-We'll prepare a ratatouille.
A ratatouille?
-Yes, for sure.
-What is a ratatouille?
Because I have
a different opinion about it.
I don't think I've
ever eaten a good ratatouille.
-It's coffee, vegetables,
I will say.
-Yeah.
-Mixed together.
-Vegetables mixed together.
-Yeah.
We have to be very careful
not to put too much oil,
because all these vegetables,
they can keep
the oil inside and then --
-Just mushy.
-Yeah.
-Yeah.
-Traditionally, it seems
that the ratatouille
you cook
all the vegetables separately.
-Uh-huh.
-Me, I cook them all together.
But you have to go
step by step.
-Is it the herbes de Provence?
-Yeah.
-This is that smell.
And garlic.
-And garlic.
-Everything in Provence
has garlic.
-Yeah, for sure.
-[ Laughs ]
♪♪
It smells like herbes
de Provence with garlic.
[ Laughs ]
But I love how
you've given each vegetable
its own time
to join the party.
-Exactly. That's the key.
The good balance.
-Yeah, the balance.
-It's the question of balance.
-The balance.
-Hélène may be keen
to cook me a simple
Provencal country dish,
but she could never
just throw this into a bowl
with a hunk of bread.
-Oh, my.
-Look at that.
-This is gorgeous.
Look at these.
-These are so beautiful.
-Hélène's using
fresh zucchini flowers.
-Voila.
All the way to the top.
And then --
-And then you close.
That's it, and we will cut them
a little bit in the oven.
And that's done.
Sometimes it's better
to cook with instinct
than with technique.
-Why do you think
there's so much technique
in French cuisine?
I mean,
it's associated with technique.
-Because they are done by men.
[ Both laugh ]
And men, they always
want to demonstrate something.
Okay.
-Oh.
-Yes.
-Gorgeous.
This is one of the
most beautiful dining rooms.
It feels like we're floating
with Provence in the background.
-Exactly. Yeah.
You don't need a designer
to -- to design the room
because you have the nature.
-Yeah.
Kind of like your
philosophy of cooking is, like,
when you have such
a good product,
why do too much to it?
-Exactly.
Let's be humble
in front of that, you know?
[ Wind blowing ]
-These are the
howling mistral winds, huh?
-It's incredible. Huh?
Can you hear that?
[ Wind whistling ]
-Do you hear the sound?
-Yeah.
-I love those winds.
♪♪
-Oh, wow.
-[ Speaks French ]
This is so beautiful.
And what is this?
-Uh, it's a zucchini cream
with olive oil
inside with herbes de Provence
and a little bit of basil.
-Okay.
-Yeah.
-Let's start inside
with the ratatouille.
It's never been presented
as beautiful as this.
-Mmm. Wow.
-Taste also now
with the olives.
-Oh, that goes so well
with the ratatouille.
Wow. And you know what?
It's perfectly mixed.
It doesn't taste
like one mushy thing.
I can taste every vegetable.
-Yeah.
-Hélène has perfected exactly
how to let Provence shine
through her food.
-Wow.
-The result is
utterly exquisite.
-And inside this flour,
the perfect touch.
-Ratatouille. [ Laughs ]
-Mhm.
That is Provence.
♪♪
♪♪
-This gorgeous coastline
defines the glamour and style
of France just as much
as the catwalks in Paris --
The French Riviera.
-Every summer,
millions of people,
including me during
the Cannes Film Festival,
flock here
for the sunshine and glitz
that the coast of Provence
has made its own.
-I'm headed to the place
where it all began.
♪♪
Along the shoreline
from St. Tropez,
Cannes and Nice
sits the Hotel du Cap,
one of the most famous hotels
on Earth.
I've been fortunate enough
to visit a few times,
and I'm thrilled to be back,
mainly for one iconic salad.
I'm meeting writer and
Riviera resident Lanie Goodman
to find out why
the world keeps falling in love
with Provence coast
and its food.
-Lanie.
-Hello.
-How are you?
-I'm great.
♪♪
[ Bell dings ]
-Lanie's ordered us
the perfect Riviera lunch.
-Wow.
-Well, look,
there's a sailboat right there.
-Oh, my God.
And cue the sailboat.
-It's hard to believe,
but when the hotel
opened over 150 years ago,
the Riviera was
a sedate winter spot
for visiting British
aristocrats,
who fled as soon
as the hot summer rolled around.
Before that,
nobody would be in
the south of France
in the summer.
The season was winter.
-Yes, because you were --
it was not fashionable
to be tan.
-In 1923,
everything turned upside down
when a young American
couple convinced the hotel
to stay open for the summer
and invited all their friends.
And when your friends happen
to be F. Scott Fitzgerald,
Coco Chanel, and Picasso,
you're sure to start a scene.
-By '29, it was full
of Americans here.
It did actually become
what Scott Fitzgerald called
a celebrity circus.
It had become the place to be.
The women were wearing
silk pajamas.
-I personally
haven't brought silk pajamas,
but I have come
with a craving for one simple
but perfect meal here.
Head chef Sébastien Broda
knows how to bring the sunshine.
-Bonjour, Chef.
-Bonjour.
-Bonjour.
-There's the regular
Nicoise salad ingredients
like fresh tomatoes,
peppers, olives and tuna.
But some things
you might expect are missing.
-It's so beautiful.
-This salad is now
a classic across the world,
though its roots
on this coastline
are sometimes forgotten.
-I don't think people know that
it's called a Nicoise salad
because Nicoise meaning
from Nice.
-And there have been so many
different variations
of the salad.
Americans put potatoes in it
-Yes.
they put -- they put all
kinds of things,
and they're
not one lettuce leaf.
-And all vegetables
must be raw.
-Yes.
-Mmm. Mmm.
-The tomatoes, they have
a taste here that nowhere else.
-Oh, my God.
Magnifique.
-Merci.
-Merci. Merci.
-Merci.
-Wow.
Why do you think
this salad has become so popular
throughout the world.
-Well, it's like
the French Riviera on a plate,
and people instantly feel
that they've come a long way
and they can kind of fantasize
about that.
-So we feel closer
to the French Riviera
if I order this in Texas?
-Exactly.
And, oh --
Yeah. Yeah.
[ Laughter ]
-I have to tear myself away
from lunch with Laine
as I have an invite
along the coast.
Recently, the world
has enthusiastically embraced
another delicious way
to be transported
to the French Riviera.
I'm heading away from
the holiday-makers to Bandol,
a tiny region
that's home
to some of the very best
rosé on Earth.
In the ancient vineyards,
I'm meeting winemaker
Claire Bunan,
whose family arrived here
from Algeria in the early 1960s.
-When did you end up here?
-They come in 1962.
-Okay.
-My father Pierre,
and my uncle Paul.
-And why did they leave
Algeria?
-And that was
a very violent war.
[ Boat horn blaring ]
-When Algeria fought
for independence
against French colonial rule,
families connected to
the French administration
like Claire's fled in fear
across the Mediterranean.
Claire's father
and his brother were teenagers
when they got here,
and needed to decide
where to start their new life.
-And were they winemakers
in Algeria?
-Yes,
they make the wine in Algeria,
but they come here because
my uncle loved Marlon Brando.
-Marlon Brando?
-Yes.
And he read in a newspaper
he was here.
-What was Marlon Brando
doing in Bandol?
That's so random.
-Yes.
In Bandol, he was dating
the fisherman's daughter,
and he'd say, "Okay,
if Marlon Brando love Bandol,
I can live there."
-[ Laughs ]
So --
-So you guys relocated here
not because of the soil
or the weather for winemaking,
but because
Marlon Brando lived here.
-First Marlon Brando,
and second, because the soil.
-Rosé is made
in the same way as red wine,
but the dark grape skins
and juice
soak together
for a much shorter time,
giving the lighter pink color.
-Oh, it smells so good already.
-Yeah.
-What do you guys do
different than most rosés?
Because I feel
like you can go to a wine shop
and it's just like an aisle
of pink,
and people probably pick
based on color.
Nothing can be added to it.
And our specialty in Bandol.
-Okay. Mourvèdre.
-Mourvèdre.
That's why the color
is more dark.
-I'm excited to see the color.
Oh yeah, that is dark.
-Sunrise style.
-Oh, it's sunrise.
That is definitely one of the
darkest rosés I've ever seen.
Oh, that's lovely.
It's like peaches.
-Peaches, yes.
-Yes
I love when I get
the note right.
I had it backwards.
I was always picking
the lightest rosé on the shelf.
-Yeah, but now you can
-Now I know.
It's this kind I'm after.
-Four generations
of the Bunan family
have gathered to enjoy
the food and wine of the land
they've nurtured since they
first arrived over 60 years ago.
-This looks amazing.
-With us is Uncle Paul,
one of the original brothers.
Sitting regally
at the head of the table,
he reminds me
of the Godfather himself.
[ Laughter ]
-I want to try the onion.
-And it's very good with rosé.
Taste rosé --
-Everything is good with rosé.
[ Laughter ]
-Wherever we are in the world,
a simple salad Nicoise
or a glass of rosé
instantly connects us
to the sunshine and splendor
of this place.
It's almost as good
as being here.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-I won, I won!
[ Laughter ]
-Now you're from the south
of France.
-Now I'm from Provence.
-Provence.
[ Laughter ]
♪♪
♪♪
-I've traveled back
along the coast
and deep into
the historic heart of Marseille.
-These narrow,
winding streets
just behind
the old Marseille port
were once known as the
most dangerous place in France.
Over 150 years ago,
French high society
became obsessed with this idea
that Marseille
was full of criminals.
♪♪
-How are you?
-Alexis Steinman is
a food and travel
writer who unearths Marseille's
hidden histories.
♪♪
-So, where did
this negative reputation begin?
-So if you think of Marseille,
Marseille is a port city.
-Yeah.
-And so that means that all
these cultures,
all these people are coming in.
In the 19th century,
we had a lot of Italians
come to get work.
And there was people
called the Nervi,
and the Nervi were
sort of the thugs.
And so you can imagine
you have these skinny alleyways
and there was crime.
And so the Nervi were known
as the people
you wanted to stay away from.
-But how much of that
was just scapegoating
of the new immigrant community?
-It really became sort of
this overexaggerated cliché
that contributed
to this reputation
that Marseille is
this capital of crime.
-Life can be hard
in this ancient city.
Marseille has some of the
poorest areas in all of France,
but there's also
a long tradition of people here
looking for creative ways
to improve what they can
for everyone.
-This is beautiful.
-I really wanted to bring
you to this restaurant.
It's one of my favorite places
in Marseille,
and maybe in France.
This is called La République.
This restaurant is
really special
because it's a
social impact project.
-Okay.
-There are people who dine here
who would pay around 30 euros
to have a three-course meal,
and then about 35% of the people
who eat here are paying 1 euro.
-1?
-1 euro.
-And they get
the same meal?
-They get the exact same meal
and everyone's together,
and you don't know
who is paying a euro
and who is paying 30 euro.
-How is there
not a line out the door?
-So what happens is
they are working directly
with the nonprofits.
-Oh, and that's
-So they are reserving
in advance.
So it's not like you're saying,
oh, this person pays
for those persons.
-This people on this side
and these people.
-No, it's really, really mixed.
-We get to chatting
with our barman Guillaume
and here that this place doesn't
only take care of its guests.
-[ Laughs ]
-Building a place
as beautiful and buzzy as this,
while also upending the
business model of a restaurant
is an incredible achievement.
I need to meet the man who makes
it all happen,
Chef Sébastien Richard.
-Bonjour, Sébastien.
Also, you know,
for the people who work here,
it's an amazing opportunity.
Right.
It's like a snowball effect.
Yeah.
Transmitting that love
and passion that you have,
you can feel it.
-Sébastien and his team
use cost-effective local produce
and a whole lot of skill
to make Marseille favorites
that keep diners
coming back for more,
whether they're paying
full price or reduced.
-What did you think
of Sébastien?
-He's amazing.
-Sébastien likes to say
that this is a project
that could have only happened
in Marseille,
because this is a city
that's kind of bootstrapping,
that has to make
things happen for itself.
-Sébastien has made us
vitello tonnato,
an Italian classic
of tender veal,
usually served
with a creamy tuna-based sauce.
-He puts sardines
because sardines
is really our most popular fish.
It's not an expensive fish.
People like to grill them.
They like to smoke them.
-Every course is so exquisite
and fresh.
I can totally see
why Alexis loves this place.
-Mmm. Mmm.
It's so delicious.
It's an amazing concept.
-When it's time to settle up,
I've never been happier
to pay for a meal,
which also helps out
so many others.
-Normal. Full price.
-Merci.
-Merci.
-This corner of the street
is changing the world around it,
breaking down barriers
and making sure
this incredible
experience is available
to everyone in Marseille.
♪♪
-Oh!
-Mmm. [ Speaks French ]
-Oh.
[ Speaks French ]
-Those noises you can hear,
that's the sound of two women
completely losing their minds
at the traditional
Provencal market.
-[ Speaks French ]
Wow.
This is like lavender heaven.
Beautiful.
-I'm nearing the end
of my time here in Provence,
And I'm on the road
again with Alexis Steinman.
We're heading towards the
more rugged center of Provence,
where Alexis is promising
to take me
to the most extraordinary
dinner.
But we got distracted along the
way in the ancient town of Aix.
It's the birthplace of
visionary painter Paul Cézanne,
who, inspired by nature
around him, changed art forever.
-Bonjour.
-Bonjour, monsieur.
He was really famous
for using the apple,
and it was really revolutionary
what he was doing,
because he was painting
rustic food.
-At a time when French art
favored overblown paintings
of grand historical scenes,
Cézanne went right back
to basics,
capturing the simplest things
almost alive
in their moment in time.
-You can tell he got
inspiration from this area.
The light here is stunning.
The colors here,
not just in the market.
A lot of artists,
not just Cézanne,
came down because of the light.
You know, we have this
crazy wind called the mistral.
-Yeah.
-And that cleans the sky.
And so you have this
really beautiful soft light.
And Cézanne's claim to fame
was light.
-They, like,
jumped out at you.
They were almost 3D.
-They vibrate almost.
And so that's also
when you look at them
that gives you this emotion.
-Wow.
-In the 1860s, Cézanne left
Provence and traveled to Paris,
convinced he would
revolutionize art.
Instead, his paintings
were mocked as unsophisticated,
and he was seen
as an oddball yokel.
Undeterred, he left the city
and returned to the South
to pursue his
revolutionary vision.
-Some say that it's really where
he found his voice as an artist,
because he was so enamored
with the light, with nature.
-As we head further
into the countryside,
I'm stunned by a vast,
brooding mountain
I've only ever seen
in paintings.
-This is beautiful.
-It's called
Montagne Sainte-Victoire,
and this is the mountain that
Cézanne painted over 80 times.
-Wow.
This landscape is, like,
dominated by this mountain.
It is overwhelming,
this sight, this view.
-It really became
the star of the painting
and also of the region.
People say it was his mistress
because he really spent
a lot of time with it.
-He must have been in love
with that mountain for sure
if he painted it 80 times.
-Exactly.
-I thought he liked the apple.
-[ Chuckles ]
-The way the Montagne
Sainte-Victoire
constantly changes in the light
captivated Cézanne
until the day he died in 1906,
his work still
largely unrecognized.
In 2022, one of his paintings
of this mountain
sold at auction
for $138 million.
Alexis has brought me
to an event that feels priceless
and perfectly Provencal.
-Wow.
-This dinner is for Cézanne?
-It's a special dinner
for Cézanne.
-I don't think I've ever had
a dinner this beautiful.
-Yeah.
-Hundreds of people
have gathered here at the foot
of Cézanne's mountain
to share a three-course meal
and celebrate food and art.
It's the creation of our friend
and bouillabaisse chef
Emmanuel Perrodin.
On the menu is the Provencal
food Cézanne loved,
including duck roasted
with olives
and local vegetables filled
with grains and ground meat.
And that's not all.
-Oh, my God. Apples!
Wow.
They are beautiful.
-For dessert, Cezanne's apples
reimagined as a fresh sorbet
and crisp white chocolate
and a fruit glaze.
-Wow.
From this tiny little painting
of an apple
to something as grand
as this mountain,
and he made both things
so personal and intimate.
It is a beautiful relation.
-From artists to chefs
and beyond, people in Provence
are delightfully open
to the world around them.
They draw inspiration
from nature
and from their
Mediterranean neighbors,
and blow out a creative energy
from this corner of France
to the entire world.
♪♪