Oakland and the southern French city of Marseille have a lot in common. Both are melting pot port cities that have wildly diverse culinary cultures that have often been overlooked while other cities’ dining scenes were celebrated.
On Sunday, June 23 at Bombera in the Dimond District, a collection of scholars, chefs and authors will explore the connections between the two cities and the dynamics of cities with diverse immigrant populations around a collaborative meal.
Marseille sits on the Mediterranean and is the oldest city in France. It has a distinct culinary tradition and style that includes bouillabaisse, Pastis, an anise-based liquor, and its robust pizza scene. The event is focused around the new cookbook Taste the World in Marseille, which is the first cookbook focused on the cuisine of Marseille that has been translated into English.
Food for Thought: Taste the World in Marseille – Oakland Edition
Sunday, June 23, 1-4 p.m. at Bombera, 3459 Champion St. in Oakland
Tickets, $55, can be purchased on Resy.com.
Cisneros will be cooking alongside chef Giorgiana Viou, who blends the cuisines of Southern France and her home country of Benin and runs the Michelin-starred restaurant Rouge in Nimes. Additionally, Verane Frediani, author of the cookbook, Alexis Steinman, the book’s translator who lives and leads culinary tours in Marseille, Bay Area chef and author Tanya Holland, Carlos Manuel Solomon, a Chicano author and professor of Ethnic Studies at Cal State East Bay, and David Do Paço, the French Attaché for Academic Cooperation in San Francisco and an urban historian, will be in attendance for discussion.
The event is part of the Food for Thought series from the San Francisco branch of Villa Albertine, a French institution for arts and ideas in the United States created by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and supported by the French Ministry of Culture. Villa Albertine hosts artists in residence and produces several programs that examine the intersection of art, culture and society while exploring the links between France and the United States.
Frediani is from Marseille, and in the introduction of the cookbook writes: “Here, more than anywhere else in France, food is more than food, it is our history … Today I dare think the future of French gastronomy is being written here, in Marseille. French cuisine always needed foreign influences and in recent decades — due to living in something of a vacuum — it has been running out of steam. The free and uninhibited Marseille mix is just the gusto it needed.”
Frediani took advantage of the slow times during the COVID 19 pandemic to interview and photograph chefs from a range of backgrounds for the book. There are deep dives into the city’s pizza (the classic pie in Marseille is half emmentaler cheese, half anchovies), couscous, seafood, a variety of soups, and a closing chapter dedicated to desserts.
“Verane’s book comes from the voices of the people involved in food, it’s not just a person observing from the outside in,” said Steinman. “… The book tells the story of Marseille through its food, looking at its diversity, perseverance, affordability and history as an underdog.”
Steinman leads tours for Culinary Backstreets in Marseille, and typical stops include an Armenian supermarket, Tunisian bakery, an Algerian snack bar where they make a special kind of crepe, and a seafood spot where the focus is on local catch.
Rice Cisneros is planning to make fish tacos among other dishes, and Viou, who was one of the chefs featured in the cookbook, is making a bouillabaisse. There will also be Pastis for guests to sample, in addition to margaritas and a selection of wine. The Bombera chef and owner said she was thrilled to share a kitchen with Viou, who she has been following for years.
“I’m really excited about the opportunity,” Rice Cisneros said. “It’s going to be a really fun afternoon. We’ll be on the patio in the sun, the garden in front of Bomberam and we’ll recreate a beautiful summer day in Marseille with lots of refreshing aperitifs and appetizers.”
This is the fourth installment of Villa Albertine San Francisco’s Food for Thought series, which explores societal and cultural issues through the lens of food. In a previous installment, Tonya Holland moderated a discussion between Alice Waters and pastry chef Corentin Poirier, who was an artist in residence at Villa Albertine, exploring how to apply the concepts of slow food to pastries. Other talks have looked at the possibilities of regenerative cuisine sourced from the oceans.
“At the event at Bombera we will have a discussion that includes two historians who specialize in culture and migrations,” said Sabine de Maussion, director of Villa Albertine San Francisco. “We’ll examine how food reflects culture and how different communities shape our identity. How are the multicultural societies shaping the future of France and Oakland?”
During the event there will also be a book signing and sales for Taste the World in Marseille, and Tanya Holland will also have her books available for purchase.
In addition to the event at Bombera June 23, Villa Albertine is holding an author talk at Omnivore Books (3885A Cesar Chavez St., San Francisco) from 6:30-7:30 p.m. June 24 with Frediani, Steinman and Viou.
A future edition of Food for Thought, coming in November, will invite a chef and designer to collaborate together with a focus on cooking food with fire and the use of ceramics.
