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.
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.
3 editor picks for Aioli (le grand aioli) in Marseille, ranked by editorial score. All Marseille signature dishes · Aioli (le grand aioli) across every city.
La Caravelle ★ 4.4
2e · 34 Quai du Port, 13002 Marseille
La Caravelle in Marseille's 2e hangs over the Vieux Port on the first floor of the Hotel Belle-Vue since the 1920s, a gathering place for artists with the most coveted balcony in the city.
Chez Madie Les Galinettes ★ 4.4
2e · 138 Quai du Port, 13002 Marseille
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.
Le Bouchon Provencal ★ 4.3
1er · 6 Place aux Huiles, 13001 Marseille
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.