In Search of the Lost Taste: La Cuisine Pied Noir

1962 marked the end of the colonial occupation of Algeria by France after more than 130 years. After a bloody war of independence, nearly 700,000 former European settlers left their old homeland in dramatic circumstances in the summer of this year. Most of them landed in the port of Marseille to find a new livelihood in the motherland of France. After their exodus from the lost French-Algeria, the Pieds-noirs developed a multifaceted culture of remembrance. Their specific culinary culture, La Cuisine Pied Noir, is an essential part of this memory work. The description of this cuisine provides a deeper understanding of culinary cultural transfer in the context of colonialism and decolonization. The Cuisine Pied Noir can be used to reflect the importance of food as a cultural companion and as a preserver of social identity. The drama of Algerian-French history is currently being discussed intensively in the French public. The archives are finally to be opened in both countries. A particular concern of this paper is to understand the topic “Food and Movement” from the perspective of Life Review and Biographical Work.