Sides & Sauces

Sweet, sour and silky, the eggplant rests until it reaches room temperature and the flavors settle. Only then does a pinch of Les Terres Blanches’ Fleur de Sel Sicily, from the Trapani salt marshes watched over by the WWF, add its bright salinity.

Carrots roasting until their edges caramelize, then a glossy glaze and a scatter of toasted pecans: Rooibos Carrot Cake N°596 from Dammann Frères, a caffeine-free rooibos with carrot, cinnamon and ginger, brings its warm, honeyed spice to a savory side.

Keep whisking over the lowest heat and the yolks turn thick and glossy, ready for a steak. Reduced with shallot at the start, Laurent Agnès’s Tarragon Vinegar, aromatic and gently spiced, gives the béarnaise its herbaceous backbone.

Lemon, mustard and a shallot need only a slow stream of Nicolas Alziari’s Pauline olive oil, green, fruity and lively, to become a creamy dressing that wakes up tender greens or steamed green beans.

Rows of zucchini, eggplant and tomato slowly melt in the oven while the kitchen smells of the South of France: Place des Épices’ organic herbes de Provence, true to the four-herb recipe of rosemary, oregano, savory and thyme, do the rest.

Cherry tomatoes, little mozzarella pearls and fresh basil leaves tossed with pasta for an easy summer lunch outdoors; the dressing owes its bright herbal note to Domaine des Terres Rouges’ Basil Mustard, stone-milled Alsatian mustard infused with fresh basil.

Mushrooms browned hard in butter, a shallot, a swirl of cream: this fricassee finds its echo in Place des Épices’ Gorilla wild peppercorn, from the forests of Central Africa, mildly pungent, with subtle smoky notes and a woody warmth.

Spring arrives with the first new potatoes and green asparagus, still warm when they meet a vinaigrette made with the Wild Garlic Mustard from Domaine des Terres Rouges, mild and fragrant with a subtle herbaceous depth.

A day on a plate is all it takes for rosemary, thyme and lemon zest to perfume large crystals: Binet 1660’s Coarse Gray Salt, harvested on the clay floor of the Batz-sur-Mer salt pans, becomes a jar of herb salt for roasts.

Off the heat, over squash wedges caramelized at the edges, a thread of Moulin de Maneyrol’s walnut oil brings its warm, lightly toasted nutty character, a virgin oil first cold pressed in the Périgord Noir from local walnut halves.

Squash cubes blistered at the edges, red onions gone soft and sweet, one last turn in the oven: Hédène’s Pine Honey, deep and woody with hints of resin, lacquers the vegetables with a taste of high country.

Thick fries crackling from the oven, dunked into a mayo with a hoppy kick: Sauce Martin’s East IPA Gallia hot sauce, made with Brasserie Gallia’s IPA from Pantin, pairs citrusy beer with a medium, fruity heat.