Monégasque cuisine is the cuisine of the principality of Monaco. It is a Mediterranean cuisine shaped by the cooking style of Provence and the influences of nearby northern Italian and southern French cooking (and French cuisine in general),John J. B. Anderson and Marilyn C. Sparling, The Mediterranean Way of Eating: Evidence for Chronic Disease Prevention and Weight Management (Florida: CRC Press, 2015) 16. in addition to Monaco's own culinary traditions. There is an emphasis on fresh ingredients, with the use of seafood, vegetables and olive oil playing a major role in the cuisine.David C. King, Monaco (New York: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, 2008) 125.
A more modern form of Monégasque cuisine has developed since the Monte Carlo Casino opened in the mid-nineteenth century.Robert W. Miller, "Constructing a Spatial Imaginary: The Formation and Representation of Monte Carlo As a Vacation-Leisure Paradise, 1854–1950,” (PhD diss., University of Kansas, 2016), v, https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/handle/1808/21878 . Some now associate the cuisine with international influences, cosmopolitanism, gastronomy and Michelin-starred restaurants.Robert W. Miller, "Constructing a Spatial Imaginary: The Formation and Representation of Monte Carlo As a Vacation-Leisure Paradise, 1854–1950,” (PhD diss., University of Kansas, 2016), v, https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/handle/1808/21878 . However, recent years have also seen a revitalised interest in Monaco's authentic local recipes and its more traditional culinary heritage.Jonatan Leer, “Monocultural and multicultural gastronationalism: National narratives in European food shows,” European Journal of Cultural Studies 22, no. 5-6 (2019): 824.
Despite being the most densely populated country in the world with a population density of inhabitants/km2, the cuisine of Monaco is relatively obscure than any other parts of Europe due to historical reasons. Barbajuan, a fried ravioli, is supposedly a national dish of Monaco. In Monaco, only two large American fast food chains exist: McDonald's and Starbucks. The largest supermarket is a Carrefour in the "Centre commercial de Fontvieille" mall.
History Early history Monégasque cuisine has developed over many centuries. New ingredients were introduced into the developing cuisine from around 1000 BC, with the extensive Mediterranean Sea trade connecting Monaco with civilisations such as Phoenicia, Greece, Rome and Carthage.King, Monaco, 22. Monaco was likely used as a coastal trading post by the ancient Greeks in 600 BC, who introduced grapes and olives into the region, which was already renowned for its lemon orchards.King, Monaco, 23. The region came under the rule of the Roman Empire in around 120 BC and Monaco supplied the empire with olive oil, lemons and wine.
Modern history In 1918, the Monégasque scholar, historian, writer and linguist Louis Notari (1879–1961) published a history of the principality, in which he expressed his concern for the preservation of Monégasque culture, including its culinary traditions.Miller, "Constructing a Spatial Imaginary", 148. He wrote about the central role of olive, lemon and orange trees to traditional Monégasque cuisine.Miller, "Constructing a Spatial Imaginary", 148. He attributed the disappearance of Monaco's fields of lemon and orange trees to the urban transformation of its landscape.Miller, "Constructing a Spatial Imaginary", 148.
Notari made reference to fougasse, a flatbread dish, as an authentic national food which he believed needed to be preserved.Miller, "Constructing a Spatial Imaginary", 151. He included his recipe for a traditional version of the pastry, which he believed was best served with orange blossom, light brandy, locally-grown Monégasque almonds and Fenouillet-Gris, a small apple, red and white in colour, which originated from Fenouillet in the Haute-Garonne department West of Monaco.Miller, "Constructing a Spatial Imaginary", 151. These ingredients that Notari listed for the local fougasse were derived almost exclusively from Monaco's local vegetation and agricultural products.
Impact of tourism on cuisine In the 18th century, the French Riviera’s culinary offerings were described as "paltry"Tobias Smollett, Travels through France and Italy (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1792), 151. by Tobias Smollett, who published the popular travel book Travels Through France and Italy (1792) which characterised Monaco as a backward and remote fishing town.Miller, "Constructing a Spatial Imaginary", 152.
Monaco's first casino, Villa Bellevue, was founded in 1854,Robert W. Miller, "The Construction of Spatial Imaginaries: Luxury, Spectacle, Cosmopolitanism and the Formation of the Casino-Resort,” Occasional Paper Series 27 (2014): 2. but the principality lacked sufficient amenities for travellers, with only one inn serving food and drink.Miller, “Constructing a Spatial Imaginary", 59.
In 1863, the entrepreneur François Blanc expressed his aim to reinvent the Villa Bellevue, and the Golden Square, Monte Carlo's resort-centre containing restaurants and cafés, was inaugurated, offering gourmet culinary options for patrons.Miller, "The Construction of Spatial Imaginaries", 4. The following list of dishes was taken from the Hôtel de Paris in 1898 and is an example of a typical menu at a restaurant in Monte Carlo during the late 1890s:
Saumon Fumé de Hollande Ox-tail Clair en Tasse Velouté de Homard au Paprika Truite Saumonée à la Chambord Tourte de Ris-de-Veau Brillat-Savarin Selle d’Agneau de Lait Polignac Pommes Dauphin Petits Pois Fine-Fleur Caille de Vigne à la Richelieu Sorbet au Clicquot Poularde Soufflée Impériale Pâté de Foie Gras d’Alsace Salade Aïda Asperges d’Argenteuil Sauce Mousseline Buisson d’Ecrevisses à la Nage Crêpes Flambées au Grand Marnier Ananas Givré à l’Orientale Coffret de FriandisesHôtel de Paris, Menu at l’ Hôtel de Paris, 1898, quoted in Xan Fielding, The Money Spinner: Monte Carlo and Its Fabled Casino (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1977), 108.
By 1903, restaurants in Monte Carlo were hiring celebrated chefs from across Europe to elevate their culinary offerings, which became renowned for their exorbitance and international origins.Miller, “Constructing a Spatial Imaginary”, 152. Dining options included the restaurants of the Hotel du Monte Carlo, Ciro's, Café Riche, the Grand, the Hermitage, the Sporting Club, the Palais du Soleil, the Helder, Aubanel's Restaurant, Restaurant Ré, the Riviera Palace and the Hôtel de Paris.Nathaniel Newnham-Davis, The Gourmet's Guide to Europe (London: Grant Richards, 1903). Whilst Monégasque cuisine experienced tremendous growth due to a focus on gastronomy in this period, some feared that the more traditional aspects of the cuisine would be eradicated.Miller, “Constructing a Spatial Imaginary”, 156.
In 2010, 57.4 percent of stars awarded by the Michelin Guide were accounted for by the French regions of Île- de-France, Rhône-Alpes, Aquitaine, Bretagne and finally Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur, in which Monaco is situated.Christian Barrère, ed., "Food, gastronomy and cultural commons," in Cultural Commons: A New Perspective on the Production and Evolution of Cultures (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2012), 135.
Preserving culinary traditions In recent years, with the globalisation of food cultures,Leer, "Monocultural and multicultural gastronationalism", 818. there has been growing interest in the preservation of Monégasque cuisine and the return to the more traditional culinary traditions influenced by Provence.Alicia Marchant, "Consuming Provence: The Place of Gastronomy in Provençal Tourism and Culture,” PLACE 3 (2009): 9. This interest in preserving culinary traditions often involves areas with strong connections to Mediterranean cultural heritage.Sébastian Fournier, “Old Resources for New Ceremonies: Building up Olive Products as New Leisure and as Cultural Heritage in Mediterranean France,” Journal of Mediterranean Studies 15, no. 1 (2005): 116. An area of interest is the preservation of local agricultural knowledge in the farming and production of key ingredients in Monégasque cuisine, such as fish, wine, cheese, fruit and vegetables, meat and oils.Pascal Bergeret, ed., “Saving Traditional Knowhow in Agriculture,” in Mediterra Report: Zero Waste in the Mediterranean (Paris: Presses de Sciences Po, 2016), 346. Others include the culinary significance of olives and olive-growing traditions,Fournier, “Old Resources for New Ceremonies”, 99. and the practice of purchasing fresh ingredients from local marketplaces.Marchant, “Consuming Provence", 3.
Common ingredients Fruit and vegetables
Fresh fruit is commonly consumed alone or used in desserts, and the region abounds in varieties of fruit.King, Monaco, 128. Common fruits include oranges and lemons from Menton, Cavaillon melons, cherries from Luberon, apricots, table grapes, figs, raspberries, bananas, strawberries and apples.King, Monaco, 128.Martin Hintz, Monaco (New York: Children’s Press, 2004) 116, 123.
Many Monégasque dishes feature fresh and seasonal local vegetables, including asparagus in the spring, zucchinis and eggplant in the summer, pumpkin in the fall, onions, green pepper, artichokes, tomatoes, fennel, green beans, celery and potatoes.King, Monaco, 127-9. Vegetables can be cut up and served raw as crudités with a dip, such as anchovy paste mixed with garlic and olive oil.King, Monaco, 127.
Meat and seafood The nearby coastline means that seafood is generally more popular than meat, with varieties of freshly caught fish including sea bass, tuna, salmon, red snapper, mullet, anchovy, monkfish and cod.King, Monaco, 128.Marchant, "Consuming Provence", 3, 10. Other types of seafood include octopus, conger eel, prawns, mussel, squid, sea urchins and shellfish.Marchant, "Consuming Provence", 9, 10.
The most commonly used meat in Monégasque cuisine is lamb, which is often roasted with herbs.King, Monaco, 128. Beef is rarely consumed as steaks or roasts, used more popularly in slow-cooked stews called daubes.King, Monaco, 128. Wild game, including rabbits, boars and birds, were popular in the past, but the decline of hunting has reduced the usage of game in Monégasque cuisine.King, Monaco, 128.
Other staples Other common ingredients in Monégasque cuisine include nuts such as almonds, chestnuts and walnuts, herbs such as saffron and basil, garlic, anise, honey, butter and jam, eggs and orange blossom.King, Monaco. The region is not as famous for cheese as the surrounding regions of France and Italy.King, Monaco, 128. Nonetheless, a popular choice of cheese is Banon goat cheese, which is nutty, formed into small disks, individually wrapped in chestnut leaves, and tied up with raffia.King, Monaco, 128.
Further staples include pasta and rice,King, Monaco, 129. whist olives are a local product which form an integral part of Monégasque cuisine and the Mediterranean diet.Fournier, "Old Resources for New Ceremonies", 99.
Common dishes