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I am so thrilled! I was worried that readers would react negatively to the anchovy, but I'm glad I found fellow fans. If you have any great anchovy suggestions, please share them! And, thankfully, I avoided anchovy paste in all of these recipes.

Sorry Simon! I was trying to be punny. I guess it didn't translate at all! I know, they do have nice wines. They don't even say Cassis the same way, do they? Haha oh well. Hopefully my next pun will work better! Thanks for all the info. I love your comments.

Oh, the Calanques! I think that was my favorite part of the trip.

Let me know how the smoked salmon works out. Sounds like a great idea.

Great! I can't wait to hear how it turned out. That will be so interesting!

Thank you!!!

@Gipsygrrl: Amazon sells it! Try this.

Rhetor, YOUR spelling is interesting! I think I may have to rethink this too. I think you may be right...

Oh, shoneyjoe, I'm so glad you love it too! I'm thrilled it brought back good memories. As I'm sure you and other frequent Serious Eaters know, Memory Lane seems to be my favo(u)rite address.

And can I just reiterate that we need to start importing Marsh Samphire into America immediately, and must all start eating it in vast quantities. It's amazing!

@cienfuegos: You're absolutely right that you shouldn't cook with wine you wouldn't drink. I always use wine that's drinkable. When I say I use wine that I don't like, that's not to say that nobody likes it. It's a decent wine; just maybe one that I personally don't want to sip out of the glass again. In my house, there's always one too many bottles of white wine open in the fridge. So, for me, truth be told, when I'm making this dish, it'll usually be like, gosh, I still have this, better use it up! Clearly, nothing else is being done with it. That's what goes into the boiling water. The sauce, however, is reduced, and especially because you are adding raw wine at the end, that flavor will be more distinguishable when you make the dish. So for that, you may want to think a bit more. If the wine was acidic, or you just didn't like it, it's true--you won't like it in your food. As I was doing my actual tests to write this recipe, I used the $4.50 white wine that you see pictured above--the one that I usually pour into my water at dinner! It worked perfectly. Because you have the cream and the leeks, what you're really getting from the wine is a nudge of flavor, an alcoholic hint. I would not use an expensive wine here, because I think it will get lost. You taste wine, but you can't taste WHICH wine. But, this proves the point that good wine is not always expensive. So, to sum up, don't waste something you'll miss, but don't treat the pasta water like a sewer either.

Thanks, CharlieB. I never thought I would find either! Oh, I just checked D'Artagnan, and they do mail order duck fat for those of you not in the Miami area. Maybe we can make duck confit and potatoes Sarladaise as soon as the weather turns cold... Yum! I've never been to Marky's, but their truffle section alone is tantalizing. I'll have to check it out. Thanks again!

So, I have now officially had all four sauces. The Marinara and the Vodka are tied as favorites, but I'll tell you this: the Arrabiata packs serious heat. I stirred into some penne with an unorthodox scoop of ricotta, and even with the cheese, it was fiery!

Absolutely bouillabaisse, and I agree also with Simon that you should have soupe de poisson with its rouille. That's my personal favorite. Other Provencal dishes to look out for are fantastic pistous, in both the green and red varieties, aioli, which is a boiled fish and vegetable dish with a garlic mayonnaise, and one of my favorites, which is a Nicois tradition, but you may find it in Marseille, which is zucchini flower beignets. Also, ratatouille, and all of their fantastic dips and spreads. I wrote an article about it for Serious Eats a while back. Here it is. Things like anchoiade and tapenade with baguette are just to die for. I also love caviar d'aubergines. I have never actually eaten anywhere in the city of Marseille aside from my family's house, but I've spent some time in the coastal town of Cassis not to far away, and Chez Gilbert has the best bouillabaisse in town. I understand from hearsay that Miramar is the most reputable bouillabaisse restaurant in Marseille, so you may want to try that. Report back and let us know what you found!

Aha! That takes vigilance. Sometimes, you do risk missing the window. It's a matter of availability and not of timing. But you want to look for when the price between economy and leisure is within about 30 dollars.