what you should know

An anise-flavored liqueur native to southern France, pastis is known as the "milk of Provence." It's the honey, too, a symbol for the region's slower, sunnier pace.

Peter Mayle, who made a fortune selling the idea of Provence, wrote in his second book that "the most powerful ingredient in pastis is not aniseed or alcohol, but ambiance."

pastiche The classic/clichéd setting for a pastis: among the old men lobbing boules on a hard-dirt pétanque court in Aix-en-Provence, the plane trees spangling in the late afternoon sun.

5 to 1 To enjoy pastis, just mix it with cold water. The classic ratio of water to pastis is five parts water to one part pastis.

madness in a bottle Pastis is a friendlier, less hallucinogenic relative of absinthe, the wormwood-laced liqueur that was banned for decades because of fears it caused madness.

drink me? Marilyn Manson -- better known around here as Evan Rachel Wood's boyfriend -- is at the forefront of an absinthe renaissance. The genre-bending rocker has his own absinthe label called Mansinthe.

what you need

Though you could use any old jug of cold water to dilute your pastis, there's something especially refreshing about water from a chilled glass pitcher.

Those old French men are onto something: you can't improve on a warm day spent tossing boules while sipping pastis. Get your own pétanque set from Playaboule.

If you really want to get in the mood for pastis, make something out of Patricia Well's At Home in Provence and then plop down in front of the TV for a marathon session of Claude Berri's masterworks, Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources .

what you do

A classic pastis is the perfect apéritif, but perfect can get boring. When you need a change, try a pastis Negroni instead.

Goat cheese coated with pastis and Herbes de Provence is a simple and elegant way to create a delicious appetizer.

If you're bored by the same old thing, start a fire with this dramatic pastis-flamed shrimp.

Mussels love pastis almost as much as white wine. So why not combine them for these mussels with shallots and tomato sauce?

There is nothing more classically Provençal than bouillabaisse, the rich, aromatic throw-fish-in-a-pot stew.

Featured recipe: For dessert, try these cornmeal and pastis cookies, from Cooking 4 the Week (again!). It is the featured recipe for this week's Root Source Challenge.