Marcus Wareing Simply Provence: Episode 6

There is one delicious food that is adored across the world. It may have started life in South America as the humble cocoa bean, but it’s the Swiss, Belgians and of course French who have turned it into an ingredient we all love: chocolate. But Marcus loves a good, old-fashioned British bar of chocolate, so can the French convince him that they do it better? To find out, he visits local chocolatier Joel, who takes inspiration from Provence to create chocolates with unusual flavour combinations, like almonds and olives. Marcus is surprised by how good it is and challenges Joel to make chocolates using English breakfast tea bags, and invites him to dinner to try them out.

With Joel bringing dessert, Marcus needs a main course, and he is taking inspiration from a Provençal ingredient he is obsessed with: figs. Here, they grow a variety you don’t see much in Britain: white figs. So, he meets up with local fig farmer Aurelie, who agrees to give him some in exchange for a lesson in how to make fig chutney. Marcus decides he will use the chutney in his simple twist on a classic British pub dish: a Provençal-style ploughmans, which he serves for dinner followed by Joel‘s English tea-flavoured chocolates.

Marcus loves herbs. Where would tomatoes be without basil, curry without coriander and lamb without mint? Here in Provence, they have created their own signature blend of herbs and put it in pretty much everything: herbes de Provence.

With no equivalent in Britain, Marcus wants to create his own simple mix that will not only rival this French classic but turn any dull dish into a truly tasty treat. He starts with a visit to the local herb shop, where he discovers that despite it being the flower of Provence, lavender is not used in the famous dried herb mix. It is one of Marcus’s favourites though, so he can’t resist adding it to his own recipe. He then tries this flavour combination out on some local chefs in the town. First Natasha, who uses it in her super simple breaded root vegetable recipe, and then Patrick, who agrees to try it with his flambeed lamb. The final test is using it to create a meal for the owner of the herb shop, to see if he will agree to sell Marcus’s mix!