Marcus Wareing Simply Provence: Episode 6

There’s one essential in France that simply can’t be ignored. It's cheap as chips, eaten daily and is in almost every household – the French baguette. It's popular for sandwiches, which we Brits invented, but can it be the foundations of a sandwich to beat Marcus’s favourite egg and cress on sliced white? Baguette in hand, he hits the market looking for filling-spiration, and it’s not long before he’s found one of the most French things of all… a stall selling dozens of rotisserie chickens.

That inspires a classic chicken, lettuce and mayo baguette sandwich. It’s good, but is it the best? Marcus thinks he can do better, so he visits a local baker who grows his own wheat and grinds it into flour to use in his sourdough bread. The baker invites Marcus to join his team for a shift in the bakery, where he helps bake the day’s loaves. Marcus takes one away with him to make what he thinks might just be France’s most famous sandwich… the croque monsieur. A budget-friendly, dressed-up cheese and ham toastie that couldn’t be easier to make.