Peta Unplugged: Culinary Adventures in the South of France

Peta introduces her Southern French home base, the gorgeous Medieval town of Uzes. At the town market, she meets stallholders and purchases produce for the week’s culinary school. She prepares a feast to welcome her guests and profiles the country property where the culinary week is based. Then on a visit to a brocante market with an avid French antique collector, Peta gains inspiration for the week’s table settings. Then the “gastronomads” arrive, and the first dinner is served.

Peta discovers the passionate lives of the horsemen of the Carmargue. She visits a bull farm and attends the Course Camarguaise, where bulls run through the streets to the town arena for the traditional “bull dodging” tournament. The “gastronomads” explore the famous Pont du Gard monument and enjoy an extravagant lunch at a Michelin starred restaurant. Then it’s sleeves up in the culinary school kitchen for a cooking lesson in Southern French pastry making, complete with a colourful outdoor dinner party where the star turn is bar-be-qued lamb.

Peta heads to the port city of Sete to witness the day’s fishing catch. She immerses herself in the local fish market and learns the secrets of making the perfect octopus pie. The “gastronomads” join Peta in nearby Bouzigue, a coastal village famous for oysters. And in the culinary school kitchen she demonstrates the famous Southern French smoked cod dish, brandade, along with a lunch of fresh tuna and a regionally inspired salad.

Peta indulges in the beautiful Southern French city of Montpellier. She dines at the famous Jardin des Sens and joins a lesson on classic cuisine at the hotel’s culinary school. She meets one of the city’s Luthiers, or violinmakers, and enjoys a guided tour of an historic Montpellier “folie” or country house, and lunch with the resident tenth generation nobleman. Peta’s “gastronomads” go on a field trip to a goat farm and cheesery, where the irrepressible Annie gives them a lesson in peasant style cuisine, followed by a rustic country lunch.

Peta profiles three of the Languedoc-Roussillon’s vignerons, from an historic yet forward thinking large scale producer, to a traditional boutique winemaker creating vintages for the Kosher market, and a young American vintner realising the dream of growing and making her own wine in the South of France. The “gastronomads” make the most of the summer produce with a delicious tomato tart lesson, and they team their evening’s wine with a classic Confit du Canard, lovingly prepared by Peta.

Peta heads south to the Camargue again, where the walled town of Aigue Morte overlooks the famous salt flats. The town’s dark history is revealed, and its Spanish connection demonstrated with a flamboyant display of Flamenco. In the city of Nimes Peta discovers a classic bull stew recipe in the city’s central market. She visits an award winning olive oil producer, and in the culinary school kitchen teaches her “gastronomads” how to make a classic Southern French pissaladiere. Peta then hands over the reins to a wild French chef, as the culinary week wraps with a final dinner party.