olive oil works really well for cakes too. it provides a fantastic sweet moistness. my favourite is carrot and olive oil cake. truly delicious.

My first thought, while reading the first few words was "that looks just like a fougasse". Finding a recipe would be nice, but the mental voyage of the post alone, is great. I'm guessing that you had a wonderful time!

this is not about the current topic. ii am having technical difficulties and cannot get on the forum site. my sign on name has never worked, it comes back saying my password does not match. I can't seem to change it. any ideas?

Clotilde,

I found several recipes from specialized books on Provencal cooking,(sometimes spelled with an r at the end). I can send them to you. Here are the references (forgive the lack of accents)-- all contain recipes.

p. 151 Ethnocuisine de Provence by TOUSSAINT -SAMAT: She says: On l'appelle gibassie a cause des gibo, les bosses que la pate forme en levant a la cuisson I have read that elsewhere as well.

P. 218 Cuisine Prooencale Tradition Populaire, JOUVEAU. (de gibo, bosse)

P. 34 Cuisine & fetes den Provence, NAZET, under Le gibassier de Lourmarin

p. 161 REcettes en Provence, MAUREAU, under la Pompe, but mentioned as gibassier.

If you cannot get any of these recipes, let me know.

Robin

A cookie made with olive oil! I hope you will be able to find a recipe and I hope you'll share it! This sounds absolutely unique and I'd just love to try it.

You always find and create such interesting things!

I would also love to see this recipe, especially as I want to find recipes that do NOT call for vegetable oils that are composed of trans-fats.

Clotilde, I made reference to your writings in my own food blog today. I don't know how to use trackback yet but I am learning! Thanks for the constant inspiration! I LOVE your site!
Andrea

Wow, you made that sound good! I'm not a huge sugar fan, so a cookie with subtle sweetness and all those textures going for it, sounds wonderful. I love the idea of a break-off-a-chunk-and-share cookie as well.

I really love fougasses too. I got extraordinary memories of that produce actually. I still remember when I was a kid and my father used to bring the ones stuffed with roquefort (my favorites) from the bakery. We would finish them even before starting the official lunch. That was great.

Sometimes when I visit my parents we do that again and it's still a fantastic pleasure. It's my own madeleine (sorry Mr Proust) and from where I derive the bad habit to eat half of the baguettes before coming home ;-)

By the way I recently went to "Aux Lyonnais" with colleagues and I realized after reading your post about this restaurant that I ordered pretty much the same dishes, except for the Saint-Marcellin, as Maxence and you did (by pure chance actually). A delight. I really felt the same about what I ate as you described. Too bad (or too good in that case !) because I wanted to write about it in my blog but my words will not be as finely chosen as yours.

This is toally off the subject, but can someone tell me how to make celeriac? What kind of grinder do you put it through? Is it cooked before you do that? I tried to make it and it was a disaster. Help!

I have the chance with my wife to go to the Luberon (Lourmarin is part of this area) once every year, for the last 6 years. We always stay at the same B&B at Oppède-le-Vieux. And it's such an experience going there, wandering on the walking trails (some of them starting from Lourmarin by the way) under the yet warm light of the dusk, with herbal essences (thyme, romarin, lavander) freeing up the air the strong smell of their flowers.
Luberon (and Lourmarin in particular) is indeed a place of paradise : beautiful lights, nice landscapes, delightful flavors and so good tastes in your plates !
Though we try to travel elsewhere, yet once a year, we come back to Luberon, a kind of pilgrims on a sacred land. ;o)

For sure, you have to know these secret places in order to avoid the flow of main-stream tourists. But go there and try the Gibassier, still warm directly from the baker. I am sure you will never forget it.

I would really appreciate a recipe for Gibassier de Lourmarin. Can anyone please help me find one? Thanks.

Le Gibassier (biscuit)

Ingredients:

500 grams flour, either bread or pastry
200 grams sugar
½ tsp salt
10 tbsp olive oil
2 envelopes active dry yeast
3 tbsp orange flower water
Zest of one (1) orange
6 tbsp lukewarm water

Zest the orange with a Microplane.

Dissolve yeast in water. Sift sugar, salt and flour together into a bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour, and then add the yeasted water, olive oil, orange flower water and orange zest. Mix by hand or food processor to form dough. Shape dough into a ball. Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover, and let rise for about an hour.

Preheat oven to 175 degrees C (350F).

Divide dough into dough, and roll into two circles about 1/4 in. thick. Using a knife, cut five fougasse-like slits, and then let dough rise a second time.

Bake for 20 minutes on a Silpat-lined cookie sheet, or until it reaches desired color and texture. Let cool at room temperature on a wire rack.

Sorry. I meant to say, divide dough into two...

In a bakery in Portland, Oregon yesterday I had a Gibassier which was a roll, approx. 4 inches and filled with orange zest and anise seed. It was thoroughly dusted with sugar, granulated. It was a very rich yeast roll and I'd love to be able to make it at home, if anyone has a recipe like this. Do you pronounce the name with a hard "g" or soft, as a "j"?

Thank you so much , Feliz. Will have to try this.

The restaurants in Portland that stock Gibassier are the Stumptown coffee roasters. The Gibassier's that they have are made with orange flower water just like the recipe above....they are fabulous!!! I am hoping to adapt a cookie recipe with that flavor.