France

France is the argument against a purely Mediterranean book, and it wins. Burgundy, Normandy, and Alsace are not olive-oil kitchens; they are butter, cream, wine, and stock. We include them because European cooking is unintelligible without French technique — and because Provence is as Mediterranean as anywhere on this map. Bouillabaisse, tapenade, ratatouille, pissaladière: the south cooks like its neighbors. The north taught the world how to brown, deglaze, and wait.