Méjanes

Mediterranean people have always liked the baste of anise: Greeks drink it as ouzo in the shade of the Parthenon, in Beirut they quaff gulps of raki, in Naples sambucca, & in Marseilles pastis. Absinthe was once the preferred anise drink until, by 1915, it had so ravaged the French population that it was prohibited; & because of its strong taste of anise, incorrectly presumed to be toxic, all other anise drinks were banned as well.

This didn’t stop bar owners in Marseilles who went on serving their own home-brewed anise drinks. Just before 1932, when French authorities finally made the commercial production of pastis officially legal, a 23-year-old Marseilles painter was told by his father, “Paul, you’ve got to get a proper job-this painting business is not for the son of a middle-class wine-dealer.” The young painter was Paul Ricard-whose blend of Provençal herbs, anise, sugar & natural alcohol is now the most famous aperitif in France.