In 19th-century Montpellier, the table of a wealthy bourgeois followed the classic French order reworked by the Midi: a seasonal soup or starter, a main course (game, Mediterranean fish, or braised meat), then cheese and dessert, all accompanied by Languedoc wines. But the art of southern living also imposed its own rituals — the nine o'clock table, digestive liqueurs, candied fruits, and medicinal waters taken by men of delicate health like Bruyas.

The common thread of this cuisine is Languedoc olive oil, thyme, bay, and wild fennel picked on the hillsides of the Hérault — an olfactory signature that distinguishes the Midi from the butter-based cooking of the North.