At Pissarro's home, first in Pontoise then in Éragny, meals were not a succession of bourgeois dishes: they followed the rhythm of a large, hardworking household. The day began and ended with a hearty soup made from garden vegetables and thickened with bread. On Sundays, the family indulged in a slow-cooked stew. When the painter went out to work en plein air, he carried a snack wrapped in a cloth. Late-season fruit was preserved in jam pots for winter. And, very rarely, a sweet, fragrant drink brought back memories of his childhood in the Danish West Indies.

The garden that Pissarro tirelessly painted was also his pantry: cabbages, leeks, carrots, onions, herbs, and fruit trees fed the table as much as they fed the canvas. Fresh, simple, seasonal vegetables are the true signature of this modest cuisine.