“Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are,” wrote the philosopher-gourmand Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin in 1825, and this is especially true in today’s Marseille: food is the key to understand the city. The IS kesra flat bread ground by a grandmother from the Algerian diaspora in Noailles. The pizzas that will separate teenagers and families wearing an Olympique de Marseille jersey on the rocky beach at sunset. The waterfront restaurant that has served fish for generations marseilles for more than 80 years. These foods embody the heritage, diversity and conviviality of Marseille.
I moved to Marseille from the US seven years ago, following in the footsteps of famous American food writers MFK Fisher and Julia Child, who were similarly obsessed with the city. By exploring the flavors in my articles, my culinary education was broadened, as was translated into English by Taste the World in Marseille. My friends call me a “living guidebook”. I also lead food tours with Culinary Backstreets since, apart from eating, the best way to understand this complex city is to walk it.
Marseille’s food scene has boomed in recent years, fueled by young, self-taught chefs attracted by the city’s diversity and lower costs. But even though I sample these new tables for my work, because of the choice I usually eat à la bonne franquettechoosing the endless spots that this city does well.
The first stop of the day is for coffee. Hidden away on the first floor of the Bellevue Hotel above the bustle of Vieux-Port is it La Caravelle, which was a cabaret venue for sailors in the 1920s. Old murals of vintage boats and the south coast of France decorate the all-day cafe. On nice mornings, I take a seat on the sliver of the balcony for the orange pressa croissant and coffee, and to see the view of the Bonne Mère, the famous church that rises above the port.
On the esplanade of the port, I walk past fishmongers hawking sea bream and squid and a plaque commemorating the founding of Marseille by the Phocaeans in 600 BC, which “civilized the success of the Event”. At Patisserie Journoa Tunisian-Jewish hole-in-the-wall bakery, David offers a tray of it horns of gazelles, crescent-shaped almond cookies that coat my face in powdered sugar. When I’m there for lunch, I’ll have a Tunisian sandwich full of tuna and vegetables, deliciously drizzled in olive oil. Call on hot days citronnadefresh Tunisian lemonade.
I stroll past the boutiques on Rue Paradis to the tree-lined Cours Pierre Puget, an elegant avenue named for the 17th-century Marseille-born urban planner and sculptor. Uvale Station the last remaining grape juice bar in France – a green wooden stand pouring freshly squeezed grape juice since the late 1940s. Called a cure-all, jus de raisin it concentrates the natural sweetness of grapes without added sugar. The juice bar also serves as a neighborhood non-alcoholic watering hole, a “meeting place”, laughs owner Yannis Amokreze.
As I head west, the brand new, neoclassical buildings give way to streets covered in graffiti. The Noailles area is known as the “belly of Marseille” because of its central location and its range of food items. Vietnamese spring rolls are at Tam-kyPeanuty Ivorian map at Mama Africa and Corsicans figatelli (pork liver sausage) at Au Grand Saint-Antoine. At Charlie’s Pizza, calentica, a chickpea flan of Hispano-Algerian origin, reflects the influence of travel and trade on Marseille cuisine. People and their recipes have come through the port for 2,600 years, and their diversity has resulted in Marseille’s signature sauce on and off the table.
Noailles is known as the ‘belly of Marseille’ for its range of food items, from Vietnamese spring rolls to Corsican sausages
Up La Canebière, the main artery of the city, the white church of Saint-Vincent de Paul (worth a visit for the incredible animals – bats and langoustines – carved on its doors) towers above La Boîte à Sardine. The chalkboard menu at this kitsch seaside space invites you to dive deeper into local cuisine than Marseille’s ubiquitous bouillabaisse. Co-owner and former fishmonger Fabien Rugi sources his freshest catch from small fishing operators. His business partner, chef Céline Bonnieu, fills the sardines with local goat cheese, makes octopus caillettes (sausage) and swaps potatoes for panisse, The city’s famous chickpea fritters are their signature fish and chips. Everyone is treated to a booze cruise. Solo diners will appreciate the counter seating.
Continuing to the neighborhood of La Plaine, I pass the blue and white murals of the famous football club, Olympique de Marseille (OM). The square also has the cheapest glass of pastis in the city, although I prefer to eat this legendary couch in my own neighborhood, Chave, one of the 111 villages that make France’s second largest city feel like a small town. I join regulars under the plane trees outside By Dernier Metrothe historical bar du quarter which is packed by aperitif hour, the post-work drink that is sacred in France.
When I’m in love with wine, bar à vin Carnage serving natural wines and charcuterie such as porchetta made in-house by owners Auregan Dean and Mathieu Zurcher, who are part of Marseille’s new gastronomic guard.
For an afternoon of pizza, my friends and I take the Corniche Kennedy coast road to Chez Zé, a family spot on the edge of the Calanques national park that has been running since the 1960s. By tradition, we order pizza to share as an appetizer – the classic moitié-moitiéPart-anchovy, part strainer, it is the Marseille anchovy and the French twist on the snack brought here by Italian immigrants in the 19th century.
Among other Provençal dishes supions à l’ail (small squid with garlic-sautéed), moules mariniheresy, and aubergine à la parmesan baked in the same wood oven as the pizzas. The waiters offer us limoncello at the end, which digestive to soothe our full bellies and, more importantly, share a dose of determination. Which is the most important ingredient in Marseille.