Product Review

Picture yourself overlooking the busy seaport of Marseilles as you inhale the saffron-scented steam rising from a seafood soup. Or being served a succulent lamb stew, cooked with the first tender vegetables of spring, at a rustic bistro. Or picnicking beside a lavender field, with wedges of goat cheese, a loaf of freshly baked fougasse, and a bottle of the local rose set out before you. In Savoring Provence, part of the Williams-Sonoma Savoring series, award-winning author Diane Holuigue invites you to enjoy these and many other pleasurable experiences in the region of France also known as the Midi -- the place where the sun shines overhead. The more than 130 recipes, chosen for their authenticity, reveal the Provencal respect for the bountiful local ingredients, a quality that has brought the region international renown. The recipes, each shown in full color, include such specialties as Warm Goat Cheese with Curly Endive Salad, Prawns with Fennel, Roasted Chicken with Zucchini Stuffing, Artichokes with Fava Beans, and Caramelized Oranges with Orange Flower Water.