Fougasse d'Aigues-Mortes

Aigues-Mortes, Gard — the anise-scented olive-oil flatbread of the Crusader port on the Camargue plain, baked for the winter solstice and the Fête de la Saint-Louis (August 25) commemorating Louis IX's departure for the Seventh Crusade in 1248. The anise seed is the historical trace of the Levantine spice trade that passed through this port; the olive oil is from the Costières de Nîmes plain that surrounds it. The Fougasse d'Aigues-Mortes is a distinct preparation from the Fougasse Provençale (herb-and-olive, ladder-shaped) — this version is thin, crisp, and scented only with anise and sea-mineral-salt.

A lean dough — Triticum aestivum flour, fresh yeast, warm water, Olea europaea extra-vierge, and Camargue sea-mineral-salt — is made with whole anise seeds (Pimpinella anisum) incorporated at the mix stage, not added to the surface. The dough rests 90 minutes. It is then rolled or stretched very thin (5–6mm) into an oval, the surface incised with diagonal cuts that open during baking to create the characteristic leaf pattern, and brushed generously with Olea europaea. Baked at 220°C for 12–15 minutes until the surface is blistered, golden, and the incisions have opened wide. The finished fougasse is eaten warm, broken by hand, sprinkled with Fleur de Sel de Camargue at service. A second version (fougasse sucrée) substitutes caster-sugar for salt and is made for the Saint-Louis fête.

• Catalan coca (thin olive-oil flatbread)
• Ligurian focaccia genovese (olive-oil bread)
• Levantine ka'ak (anise-sesame ring bread — Crusader trade route)

Anise and sea-mineral-salt against a background of olive-oil richness. The incisions create a thin-cracker interior bordered by a slightly chewier, oil-blistered exterior. Eating warm from the oven, the anise aroma is sharp and full; cold, it quietens to a gentle background note. This is bread as a wine companion — made for the Costières de Nîmes rosé that is poured alongside it at every Gard table.