Provence A-Z: A Francophile's Essential Handbook (Vintage Departures)

The ultimate dictionary for lovers of Provence: Peter Mayle's personal selection of the foods, customs and words he finds most fascinating, curious, delicious, or just plain fun. Though organized from A to Z, this is hardly a conventional work of reference. In more than 170 entries, Peter Maylebestselling author ofA Year in Provencewrites about subjects as wide-ranging as architecture andzingue-zingue-zoun(in the local patois, a word meant to describe the sound of a violin). And, of course, he writes about food and drink:vin ros, truffles, olives, melons, bouillabaisse, the cheese that killed a Roman emperor, even a cure for indigestion. Provence A-Zis a delight for Peter Mayle's ever-growing audience and the perfect complement to any guidebook on Provence, or, for that matter, France.