Trattorias

May 2016

italien marseille 2016

Sun-drenched, colourful and fragrant, Italian cuisine offers a variety of flavours and aromas to appeal to any palate. Let’s discover some trattorias – delicatessens that also serve meals – with flavours from Venice, Florence, Apulia and beyond.

Abundance and variety
Food is a way of life in Italy, from north to south and from the sea to the mountains. A kind of intimate, reassuring maternal inheritance. Unlike most countries, Italy has dishes that are typical of all regions but prepared differently in each, as if to show that they’re Italian, of course, but Sicilian, Calabrian or Tuscan first and foremost. Whence the abundance of risotto, pizza and pasta recipes, which we can explore to our hearts’ content in the trattorias dotted around Provence.
Among the different cultures that have influenced Italy’s luscious heritage are those of Lombardy (rice and butter), the Alps (polenta, cream and cheeses), Austria (more rugged, with bresaola, strudel, beer and cinnamon). Sicily even reveals a Berber influence (couscous). Italy boasts many specifically local products, the best-known being Piedmontese white truffle, parmigiano reggiano (better known as parmesan), Parma and San Daniele hams, Vercelli rice and grappa. Olive oil may be Italy’s ultimate cooking essential but its wines and cheeses are equally vital, as ingredients or accompaniments.

Buon appetito!
Before we head out to sample all the Italian cooking Provence has to offer there are a few things we need to know. While a pizzeria worthy of the name must have a wood-fired oven, a proper trattoria should be a simple place, no fuss or faddle, serving family cooking. As a rule, trattorias are inexpensive, and have a deli counter. Then there are the traditional restaurants, where we want quality and perfectly-cooked food rather than complicated recipes, which are regarded as needlessly fancy. Each dish should be prepared with serious care, in strict compliance with tradition. The only concession to status is the degree of sophistication with which the pasta or other staple is prepared and presented.

Healthy, natural cuisine
The climate changes considerably between the Alpine foothills in the north and the tip of the boot down south and so do the local products. Rice, maize and ham are northern products; olives and tomatoes abound in the south. Wheat, olive oil, vegetables and fish are the main ingredients of Apulia’s simple, tasty fare, while cheeses, meat and beans are a hallmark of Florence. It’s in Venice and its region that cooks are most daring, happily putting their own slant on traditional recipes; they make an infinite variety of fish and vegetable dishes. The rare white truffle grows only in the southern Piedmont, but there is cheese to be had everywhere, melty or golden, in salads or gratins. Be warned: grated parmesan, salt, pepper, lemon and even olive oil are not meant to be sprinkled on everything. Try our selection of addresses – and buon appetito!

MARSEILLE
*Carmine
134 quai du Port, 2e
Tél. 04 91 31 93 89

Comptoir 109
109 rue Paradis, 6e
Tél. 04 84 26 56 61

Emilio
70 avenue de Mazargues, 8e
Tél. 04 91 32 67 76

Fiorentina
35 rue d’Endoume, 7e
Tél. 04 91 55 53 06

*La Bastide Massimo
30 rue Poucel, 4e
Tél. 09 86 26 56 72

*La Cantinetta
24 Cours Julien, 6e
Tél. 04 91 48 10 48

La Casertana
71 rue Francis Davso, 1er
Tél. 04 91 54 98 51

*Léone
21 boulevard Baille, 6e
Tél. 04 91 18 48 88

*Limone 32
Boulevard Notre-Dame, 6e
Tél. 04 91 91 47 64

Pasta & Dolce
199 avenue de Mazargues, 8e
Tél. 04 91 77 75 69

Raviolificio
425 rue Paradis, 8e
Tél. 04 91 77 81 39

Salumeria Giuppo
7 boulevard de la Libération, 1er
Tél. 09 81 86 35 95