It was in the mid-eighties that I realized that I was from a non-food loving household—a discovery made while on sleepovers at girlfriends’ houses. I started to wonder why it was that other families put so much more effort into their nightly meals. At my home, cooking was utilitarian at best, and not a thing to savor. My mother, a fashion designer by trade, prided herself on her trim figure, a feat helped by endless cups of coffee and packs of Eve cigarettes.
And so while my mother was unceremoniously making do with canned green beans, flavorless iceberg lettuce, and Swanson’s TV dinners, Julia Child was a staple on PBS. By the time I was old enough to take more than a passing interest in the affairs of the kitchen, her original show, The French Chef had long been broadcast as reruns. During the 1980s, she’d expanded her cooking repertoire to include feisty guest-chefs, like the legendary Jacques Pépin. And somewhere between the tender age of 12 and 18, I started tuning in while waiting for more exciting programs, like Nature or Nova. What I do remember is the distinct sense that food could somehow be better.
Fast forward to today: French is still my go-to cuisine of choice, and I’ve adapted this classic recipe for Salade Niçoise from a dog-eared and yellowed copy of Julia’s first book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. There is something about it that is so pastoral and picnic-y, that I find myself making it year after year for myself or guests, and almost always I serve it with a cheerful, chilled rosé.
Pair this with a chilled bottle of rosé from Chateau de Berne Emotion Rosé. Graced with tons of red fruit, and a pleasant dab of minerality that lends contrast and brightness, the Emotion Rosé is a stand out from this year’s crop of Provençal pinks. If you have trouble finding it, don’t be afraid to experiment with other, similarly priced wines from the region.
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