A Chef in Provence

Christian Etienne is a master chef, but he prides himself in being also a chef of Provence.

Born in Avignon, he spent his childhood in the streets of his town, he played in the surrounding hills among the perfumes of the garrigue, the typical scrub of the Mediterranean regions, in the villages where the farmers cultivated between the rows of cyprus trees the sun-filled vegetables that they sold at market. He ran among the olive groves with their leaves trembling in the wind, soft and silver-green.

There were the aromas of cooking in the kitchen of his mother, who gave him the love of work well-done and of the the taste of things well-made. He learned the light-filled blue of the sky that makes the eyes and heart sing, the mistral wind that twirled and instilled a bit of craziness, the stony garrigue where the thyme and so many herbs concentrated their perfumes.

There was that extraordinary light of Provence that gilded its stones.

There was a whole mix of forces, of odors, of tastes, of memories of living hands that mixed, transformed, cooked, simmered to create meals filled with aroma. Christian Provence knows his Provence well, its specialties - olive oil, garlic, vegetables, with a preference for tomatoes, truffles and for all its aromatic herbs. He makes them sing in his cooking, mixing tradition and innovation.