Five seasonal recipes using local produce available now

July in Nice means one thing for anyone who shops at the Cours Saleya: the stalls are practically collapsing under the weight of summer produce. Courgettes the length of your forearm, deep-purple aubergines, fat tomatoes from the Var, fresh basil still rooted in soil. This is the week to cook.

The timing matters for reasons beyond pleasure. Across the Alpes-Maritimes, dietitians and public health officials have been pushing a consistent message through the regional Programme National Nutrition Santé: eating seasonally and locally reduces ultra-processed food consumption, the single biggest dietary risk factor in France for cardiovascular disease. A 2024 report from Santé publique France found that adults in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region consume roughly 28 percent of daily calories from ultra-processed sources — a figure health workers are determined to push down. The summer harvest is their best ally.

Producers at Cours Saleya are selling loose courgette blossoms for around €3 per dozen this week. The cooperative Les Jardins de Bellet, which supplies several stallholders in the old town, has had an exceptionally wet spring, meaning yields are high and prices are lower than last July. The organic grocery Biocoop Libération on Avenue de la Libération is also stocked with certified-organic versions of most of the same crops for those who want to cook without pesticide residue concerns.

Five dishes worth making this week

1. Beignets de fleurs de courgette. Rinse blossoms gently, stuff each with a teaspoon of brousse du Rove cheese and a torn basil leaf, dip in a light batter of flour and sparkling water, fry in olive oil two minutes per side. Eat immediately with a wedge of lemon.

2. Socca with tomato and anchovy. The Niçois flatbread made from chickpea flour is the simplest thing to cook at home. Mix 250g chickpea flour with 500ml water and a generous pour of olive oil, rest 30 minutes, cook in a very hot oven or on a cast-iron pan. Top with sliced Var tomatoes, two anchovy fillets per portion, black pepper.

3. Ratatouille niçoise — the proper version. Purists insist each vegetable is cooked separately before combining. Sauté diced courgette, then aubergine, then red pepper, then tomato, each in olive oil with garlic. Combine, add thyme, simmer 20 minutes. It keeps four days in the fridge and improves overnight.

4. Pan bagnat. Nice's answer to the packed lunch: a round roll, hollowed slightly, rubbed with garlic and olive oil, filled with tuna, hard-boiled egg, black olives, anchovy, sliced tomato, basil. Wrap tight in paper, press under a weight for 30 minutes. The bread absorbs everything and becomes something extraordinary.

5. Tarte aux figues et amandes. The first figs are arriving now — small, green-tinged, intensely sweet. Arrange halved figs on a blind-baked shortcrust shell spread with almond cream (equal parts butter, sugar, ground almond, one egg). Bake at 180°C for 22 minutes. The season for these early figs lasts roughly three weeks.

Where to source everything

Cours Saleya runs Tuesday through Sunday, opening at 6am, with the best selection gone by 10am in summer. For courgette blossoms specifically, arriving by 7:30am is the only reliable strategy. The Marché de la Libération, two kilometres north on Avenue Malausséna, is less touristic and prices run roughly 15 percent lower on staples like tomatoes and aubergines.

Brousse du Rove — the soft, fresh sheep's cheese essential to the stuffed blossom recipe — is stocked at Fromagerie Espuno near Place Garibaldi, and a 200g portion costs around €4.50. It's worth seeking out rather than substituting ricotta; the flavour is lighter and distinctly Provençal.

The immediate practical advice: go this weekend. Tomatoes peak in the first three weeks of July, and courgette blossoms are notoriously fleeting. By mid-August the selection shifts toward melons and peppers. The Alpes-Maritimes summer table is generous but it does not wait. Consult your local GP or a registered dietitian at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nice if you have specific nutritional needs or health conditions before making significant dietary changes.