Escape to the Charming South of France with This Gorgeous New Book

Rebekah Peppler shares recipes and insights from the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in her new cookbook, LE SUD.

These recipes were first featured in Downtime’s Weekend Recs #51.

Q&A with the Author, Rebekah Peppler

(Photo by Joann Pai)

Rebekah Peppler is a Paris-based food, travel, and lifestyle writer and food stylist. She’s written three books, and her latest, le SUD: Recipes from Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, is out now.

We asked Rekebah a few quick questions, and she generously shared excerpts from her new cookbook with us. This book is a must-purchase for any Francophile in your life — or for yourself to keep as a treasured part of your collection. The photographs are simply stunning and transportive, and recipes like “The Pasta I Crave Every Time I'm Near the Sea” are accessible enough for the home cook. Enjoy! x

What inspired the cookbook?

So much inspired le SUD but the biggest inspiration is, of course, the region itself. It's a part of France I found (and continue to find) myself returning back to again and again since moving to Paris. I often come at my work from a perspective of what do I know just enough about to want to learn more, so when I was thinking about the next book and what I wanted to dive into, the tables of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur were a natural fit. 

How do you like to spend your downtime?

If I can spend it by the sea, I'm there, forever and always. If I'm not by the sea (I do live in Paris), I'm on the couch or the balcony with a book and a glass of wine or coffee, depending. Right now I’m re-reading A Natural History of the Senses by Diane Ackerman.

(Image of le SUD cookbook, courtesy Rebekah Peppler)

Thank you, Rebekah! You can follow Rebekah on Instagram @rebekahpeppler, and she is on a book tour through June.

You can purchase le SUD: Recipes from Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur from Bookshop, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or your local bookstore.

Two recipes from le SUD are excerpted below, exclusively for Downtime paid subscribers.

• Strawberry Gâteau

• (Chickpea) Picnic Salad

Recipe: Strawberry Gâteau

(Photo by Joann Pai)

In France, we enjoy a rolling strawberry season from early spring until the first frosts of autumn. The long, sweet, delicate Gariguette begins. Next comes the juicy, aromatic Ciflorette, the bright red Clery, the heart-shaped Charlotte. Then the ascendance of the tiny in size, big in sweet, acidic flavored Fraise du Bois. The Mara des Bois is the latest to appear.

The beauty of recipe testing and testing and testing for a book means you test throughout multiple seasons, meaning I’ve made this with multiple varieties. Some hold their shape better, others are sweeter, some are larger, all are highly recommended. And if your strawberry season is more of the “the good stuff peaks in June” variety, use those June berries.

Makes one 9-inch [23 cm] gâteau

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound [455 g] fresh strawberries, stemmed and halved

• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

• Pinch of flaky sea salt

• ⅓ cup [80 ml] dry rosé Gâteau

• 1 tablespoon unsalted European butter

• ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons [130 g] granulated sugar

• 1¾ cups [245 g] all-purpose flour

• ¾ teaspoon baking powder

• ½ teaspoon flaky sea salt, plus more to finish

• ¼ teaspoon baking soda

• 2 large eggs

• ½ cup [120 ml] extra-virgin olive oil

• ⅓ cup [80 ml] strawberry-rosé soaking liquid

• 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract or ½ vanilla bean, split and scraped, pod reserved for another use

• Crème fraîche, for serving

RECIPE

To make the strawberries: In a medium bowl, combine the strawberries, sugar, and salt. Add the rosé, toss gently to combine, and set aside to macerate for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

To make the gâteau: Preheat the oven to 325°F [165°C]. Butter a 9-inch [23 cm] round springform pan. Sprinkle the pan evenly with 1 tablespoon of the granulated sugar.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.

In a separate medium bowl, vigorously whisk together ½ cup [100 g] of the sugar and the eggs until lightened in color and the sugar dissolves, about 2 minutes. Whisk in the olive oil, strawberry-rosé soaking liquid (reserve any remaining liquid for later), and the vanilla.

Use a spatula to gently fold in the flour mixture until just combined. Transfer to the prepared pan and sprinkle with the remaining 1 tablespoon of sugar. Arrange the berries on top in a circle, cut-side up (or just dump them all on evenly). Bake until the gâteau is golden and set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 1 hour to 75 minutes, gently rotating the pan halfway through baking.

Brush the top of the gâteau with the remaining strawberry-rosé soaking liquid, sprinkle with salt, and let cool in the pan for 15 to 20 minutes before removing. Cool completely on a cooling rack or serve warm with crème fraîche. Leftover slices of the gâteau will keep, covered, in the refrigerator, for 3 to 4 days.

note | Sure, yes, the recipe title here is Strawberry Gâteau but depending on what you have/love it could just as easily be abricot gâteau or donut peach gâteau or currant gâteau or cherry gâteau . . . you get the idea.

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Recipe: (Chickpea) Picnic Salad

(Photo by Joann Pai)

The recipe below is for paying subs. Join in for $5/month here.