In both Aix-en-Provence and Marseille, there are plenty of diverse options for food. Of course, I had to try Provençal cuisine at least once. It was quite delicious, and I have also tried cuisine from prevalent minority cultures in the region, like Vietnamese nem chua, Moroccan tajine, and even Senegalese thiep. Above all, however, I have fallen completely in love with kebab. I am not familiar with an equivalent of kebab in America, but the general concept consists of a sandwich (bread or wrap) with meat, standard vegetables, french fries, and a sauce, of which you can choose from around fifteen different flavors (my favorites are sauce biggy and algerienne). In fact, I was lucky enough to eat at a kebab shop in which the sole employee was willing to walk through the sauce menu and describe each of them to me and my friends. I also performed some of my own research because of how much this menu overwhelmed me. Notably, both Algerian sauce and Samurai sauce have their origins in Belgium, and American sauce is in fact just mayonnaise and ketchup, a combination that I have yet to see in an American grocery store.
The prevalence of kebab shops also is astounding—on Rue de la Couronne in Aix-en-Provence, for example, you can pass five different kebab places, each with its own nuanced personality. In Marseille, most kebab shops will stay open until the early morning, and there are plenty of kebab kiosks in the less dense parts of Aix-en-Provence.
While some might see the offerings of kebab shops as snack food that only tastes good after 3 AM, I am attracted to kebab as a fascinating mix of cultures: the traditional French sandwich meets meat from the Middle East meets sauces from around the world meets the global fast food staple of French fries. Perhaps because kebab is undeniably a global fast food, it is easy to meet other young people at kebab shops at any hour of the day over any combination of great foods.
