Are traditions define us or is it the other way around? Let’s discover traditional flavors of France by making a Chicken provencal!

Traditional recipes are the ones that are closest to our hearts. The meals, that generations grew up with, are not just able to tell us who we were but define our present and outline our future as well.

How did lands define flavors?

Ages ago when the movement of goods across countries and continents took months to succeed, the flavors of the everyday were mainly defined by the spices, herbs and fresh products at the imminent surroundings of the people.

Where farming and pasturing were available, pork and cattle breeding took roots as the main source of protein production. While other places where vegetation didn’t provide the necessary nourishment for large animals, people had to scale down their expectations and keep goats and rabbits.

Vegetables, fruit and wheat consumption were dictated by soil quality and weather conditions, not by our mood or chic diet trends. People had a considerably easier life on lands with rich soil and blessed climate than those who were constantly fighting for their survival.

How did flavors define life?

Yet, harsh environments never discouraged people to settle in distant, nearly inhabitable lands, be that freezing steppes or volcanoes dotted islands. We always found a way not just to survive but enjoy life where we were using what nature had to offer for our delight.

The spices and herbs were grown in the proximity of people, not just flavored their dishes, but as early humans spent their life mostly outside, smells of various plants surrounded their everyday life. They lived together on the land immersing in each-other life, respecting each-other’s needs.

How trade did define flavors?

Well, maybe plants didn’t care too much about what humans needed and just wanted to survive then reproduce as much as they could. Once people saw how greedy plants can be if the right conditions are provided for them, farming was born and with that surplus then trade.

With trade though, many of us lost the connection to the land they grow up on. Nowadays many of us don’t even know what the seasonal fruits or vegetables are, because we have them all year around.

Luckily, there are still sales when some of them are in abundance so we can still guess. Or at least we can suspect that those weren’t imported from the other side of the world but only a couple of hundreds miles away. But the real connection to the land we live on is lost as much as people who migrate to another country lose their roots.

How did traditions define flavors?

Although such changes have a blueish hue in our sentimental wanderings, in terms of keeping one’s real traditions or connection to mother nature. In reality, changes are not just inevitable part of life but essential for the survival of every spices.

Yet, we humans like to cling to our known ways for as long as possible in the fear of unknown and uncertainty, even though changes always bring better things eventually. As much as no one wants to use technology that is 20 years old, no one will want to use technology that we use right now 20 years in the future.

With a bit of luck, soon we’ll all have kitchen equipped with bot chefs that are capable of cooking for as good or even better than ourselves. Probably few of us will insist on keep doing the prep work or the dishes, let alone standing over the process of caramelizing onions.

The real question is that with power in our hands, should we carry our traditions with us into the future or should we grow new roots in the new land we live on?

Of course, we already know what will happen, but we can also keep something with us in the new era that will reminds us of where we came from, even if its just for as long as a meal last.

Ingredients

Provencal mixture

Use dried ingredients for longer shelf life and fresh ones for more exciting flavor. Make fresh herbs ice cubes from any leftover herbs mixture for later use.

1 tablespoon Fennel seeds
2 tablespoons Rosemary
½ cup Thyme
3 tablespoons Marjoram
3 tablespoons Summer savory
1 tablespoon Tarragon
1 tablespoon Basil
1 teaspoon Chervil
1 teaspoon Mint
Optional:
- 1 teaspoon Lavender

Chicken provencal

½ cup / 150ml Oil
4lb / 2kg Chicken
2 teaspoon / 10g Salt
1 teaspoon Black pepper (optional)
6 Shallots (halved)
10 cloves Garlic
10 Cherry tomatoes (halved)
1 cup / 70g Olives
1 cup / 250ml White wine
3 tablespoons Provencal herbs mixture

How to make Chicken provencal

Beginner

Prepare the herbs and vegetables necessary for the dish. Use as many fresh herbs as possible for best flavor and substitute with dried ones if necessary.
Heat oil in a pan, add chicken, salt and black pepper.
Sear both sides of the chicken on medium to high heat until golden brown.
Add shallots, garlic, cherry tomatoes, olives and the provencal herbs mixture.
Pour in the white wine or water and bring it to boil.
If we used an oven proof dish then place the lid on an put the whole thing into the 400°F / 200°C preheated oven for about half an hour. If we haven’t started out with an oven proof dish, just poor the whole thing over into one, it will be just as good.

Enjoy!

Advanced

Brine chicken in our favorite brine. Check out how to make brine and about brining schedules at Low Carb Condiments
Heat oil in a pan, add chicken, salt and black pepper. Sear both sides of the chicken on medium to high heat until golden brown.
Add shallots, garlic, cherry tomatoes, olives and the provencal herbs mixture. Pour in the white wine or water and bring it to boil.
Place it into a 400°F / 200°C preheated oven for about half an hour.