Le grand aioli is the Friday lunch tradition of Marseille and Provence, a feast plate of poached salt cod, boiled vegetables, eggs and snails arranged round a deep bowl of garlic-and-olive-oil aioli mayonnaise.
Where to eat it: 3 restaurants across 1 city.
Aioli has been the canonical garlic emulsion of Provence since the Middle Ages, the dish (le grand aioli) the canonical Friday Lenten meal of the city. The full plate includes salt cod, carrots, fennel, green beans, potatoes, hard-boiled eggs and sometimes snails or octopus, with the aioli mounted in a mortar (mortier) by hand. La Caravelle and Madie Les Galinettes both run it as a Friday lunch special; the home version comes out at Provencal family lunches across the year.
Common allergens: Fish, Eggs
Tip from the editors. The aioli must build slowly; if it splits, start again in a clean bowl with a fresh yolk and beat the split mixture into it drop by drop.
This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.
La Caravelle in Marseille's 2e runs the most coveted balcony on the Vieux Port until 2am, jazz Wed and Fri October to May, aperitif tapas and small plates through the late hours.
Try: Aperitif tapas and Provencal small plates
Tip: Open daily 7am-2am; jazz nights pull a full room from 22:00.
Chez Madie Les Galinettes in Marseille's 2e has cooked the Provencal canon on the Quai du Port since 1995 under Delphine Roux, an affordable bouillabaisse and pieds paquets the spine of the menu.
Signature: Bouillabaisse, Pieds paquets, Aioli
Order: The bouillabaisse at EUR 59, half the price of the seafront rooms with the same view.
Tip: Book a terrace table for sunset; the Provencal stew at lunch is the value play.
Le Bouchon Provencal in Marseille's 1er on Place aux Huiles is a bistro of Provencal and Lyonnais lineage, two vaulted dining rooms and a lime-tree terrace, menu rewritten by the season.
Signature: Daube provencale, Pieds paquets
Order: The daube provencale and a glass of the house red on the terrace.
Tip: Open Mon-Sat; the upper vaulted room is the spot on cold nights.
More cities are in research. Want aioli (le grand aioli) covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.