An Esquire Best Cookbook of 2024 (So Far)
Travel to the sunny French Riviera and discover Niçoise cuisine alongside a skilled teacher. Savor the bounty of each season on the Mediterranean coast.

To eat—and cook—like a Niçoise involves snacks and sandwiches you can enjoy on the go (socca and pan bagnat), tender stuffed vegetables (petit farcis), slow-simmered meat stews (beef daube), and vivid fruit desserts. This southern French cuisine is among the healthiest in the world, relying on classic Mediterranean ingredients like olive oil, fresh and dried herbs, preserved fish, and an abundance of seasonal produce.

Drawing on the city’s rich food traditions, Rosa Jackson gathers over 100 recipes by season. Gliding through open air markets, tiny bakeries, and generations-old restaurants, she conjures a region and its cuisine as only a local can. Pull up a seat at the Niçoise table, a unique and captivating side of French food.

Rosa Jackson's profile page

Rosa Jackson has run her cooking school Les Petits Farcis in Nice, France, for over twenty years. A former Paris restaurant critic, she has written about French food for international publications, including the Financial Times and Food & Wine, and also runs the Paris food tour company Edible Paris.

Beautiful. . . . [Jackson] is a graceful, witty writer, and her book is deeply lived and knowing. The glimpses of her life in Nicoise will surely encourage others to follow in her footsteps.—Alexander Lobrano, Wall Street Journal

Rosa Jackson, who runs Nice’s Les Petits Farcis cooking school, offers a definitive recipe [for Salad Niçoise] in her new book Niçoise. —Ajesh Patalay, Financial Times

Nicoise with its light and appealing photographs, and knowledgeable voice, is a joy to browse through and cook from. This cuisine is especially dependent on the quality of the ingredients; begin with good materials and you’ll end up with a dish you love. —Sheryl Julian, Boston Globe

Gorgeous and formidable, while not in the least bit intimidating or stuffy, Rosa Jackson's exploration of food and cooking in Nice is not only one of the best cookbooks of 2024, but it's bound to have a lasting place in your library for years to come.—Alex Belth, Esquire

The people of Nice are fiercely proud of their resolutely seasonal cuisine. Rosa Jackson celebrates the sun-soaked flavors and ingredients of Niçoise cooking, direct from her long-time home (and her well-known cooking school) in the south of France. Rosa shares her favorite recipes, including the classic Salade Niçoise, picnic-friendly Pan bagnat sandwiches, garlicky Grand aïoli, and a brilliant Lemon tart with a soupçon of olive oil. Niçoise brings the freshness and vibrant spirit of Nice—and Niçoise cuisine—to your kitchen, and onto your table, wherever you are. —David Lebovitz, author of Drinking French and My Paris Kitchen

In this vibrant book, Rosa Jackson lovingly shares her deep knowledge of an often overlooked and misunderstood corner of French cuisine. Through wildly tempting recipes and colorful anecdotes, Jackson takes us on a delicious journey into rhythms and flavors of her adopted city. I may need two copies: one for my kitchen counter and one for my nightstand.—Molly Stevens, James Beard Award-winning author of All About Dinner and All About Roasting

Probably the best introduction to Niçoise cuisine, which Rosa Jackson knows intimately and loves wholeheartedly.—Chef Alain Ducasse

Rosa has a clear beauty about her, and she is always in the thick of what is happening in the food world, whether it be in Nice, or Paris, or Morocco or wherever her many travels take her. Niçoise, the book, has that same clarity, with the sharp focus of the Niçoise sun, the vibrancy of the city’s population, the vivid colors and sparkles from the produce and the sea. This book opens up a city that defies description, places it in its region and beyond. It is a book to treasure. —Susan Herrmann Loomis, author of fourteen books, journalist, ghost writer

A lovely new cookbook.—Florence Fabricant, New York Times

Jackson amazes with lots of informative and encouraging sidebars on things like hunting for mushrooms, crushing hazelnuts, washing leeks, and stocking the Nice pantry. . . . Consider [Niçoise] bona fide and truthful publicity for the region. —Barbara Jacobs, Booklist