Food History of Marseille

Key eras

600 BC, the Phocaean Greek founding

Phocaean Greek sailors from Asia Minor founded Marseille (Massalia) around 600 BC, planting olive trees, vines and fig orchards in the hinterland. They built the first quays on what became the Vieux Port, and the daily fish-and-shellfish market they ran from the harbour shaped the city's food culture from the first day.

1781, the Four des Navettes opens

Four des Navettes opened at 136 Rue Sainte in 1781, baking the orange-blossom navette biscuit in a Roman-model oven that still works. The bakery's boat-shaped biscuit comes from one of two legends about the Saintes Maries reaching the Provencal coast, and the archbishop has blessed the oven and the biscuits every Chandeleur since.

1846, the codification of bouillabaisse

Marseille fishermen had cooked the leftover rock-fish stew for centuries, but Le Miramar and a handful of other rooms codified the recipe and the Charte de la Bouillabaisse into the 20th century. Rascasse, galinette, conger and saint-pierre cooked in a saffron-and-fennel broth, served as broth then carved fish, set the standard cuisine the city still holds.

1947 to 1962, the Maghrebi arrival

Algerian, Moroccan and Tunisian Jews and Muslims arrived in Marseille across the 1947-1962 period, settling around Noailles and Rue d'Aubagne. Le Femina (Algerian Berber) had already been cooking on Rue du Musee since 1921, La Kahena (Tunisian) added in 1978, and the daily Marche des Capucins crystallised Noailles as the Maghrebi belly of the city by the 1970s.

2008, three Michelin stars at Le Petit Nice

The Passedat family had run Le Petit Nice on the Anse de Maldorme since 1917 and Gerald earned the third Michelin star in 2008, the first three-star room in the city. The cuisine reads as Mediterranean and bouillabaisse-derived; Alexandre Mazzia joined Gerald at three stars in 2021 with a more African-spiced sister kitchen.

Immigrant influences

• Italian (Sicilian and Calabrian): Sicilian and Calabrian immigrants brought the wood-fired pizza tradition that became Marseillais pizza, Chez Etienne since 1943 and Chez Sauveur since 1943 the canonical rooms.
• Tunisian: Tunisian families opened couscous and brik rooms across Noailles from the 1970s, La Kahena since 1978 and Chez Yassine since 2014 the canonical counters for bricks, ojja and kefteji.
• Algerian: Algerian Berber couscous anchors the daily food of Noailles around the Marche des Capucins, Le Femina since 1921 the city's oldest Maghrebi institution and a four-generation family room for barley-semolina couscous.
• Armenian: Armenian charcutiers and bakers settled in the 14e and 15e after the 1915 genocide, their soujouk and pastries still on the shelves at deli counters across the centre of the city.
• Corsican: Corsican charcuterie, brocciu cheese and the Corsican wine list run through neighbourhood bistros across Marseille, the island just an overnight ferry from the Vieux Port.

Signature innovations

• Bouillabaisse, the canonical rock-fish stew with rouille
• Pieds paquets, the Marseillais offal dish of stuffed tripe parcels
• Pastis, the anise-and-licorice aperitif made famous by Paul Ricard
• Navettes, the orange-blossom biscuit baked since 1781
• Marseillais pizza, the thin Sicilian-rooted wood-fired version