Chapter V
Ingredients & Suppliers
— the chain of care —
« The ingredient is already a spiritual decision — tracing back to the hands that harvested is entering a chain of care. »
Signature ingredients
These ingredients return again and again in vibrant cooking. Well-sourced, they transform every dish. Here is the base.
- Raw Criollo cacao — ancient rare variety (1 % of world production), floral and fruit aromas, magnesium and theobromine intact.
- Spirulina — blue-green algae at 50-70 % complete protein, chlorophyll, bioavailable iron. Choose flakes or fresh powder.
- Maca — Andean adaptogenic tuber, hormonal balance, sustained energy.
- Lucuma — Andean fruit, natural sweetener with a caramel-maple taste, low glycaemic index.
- Hulled hemp seeds — a plug-and-play complete protein: nearly 10 g per 30 g (more than an egg), highly digestible edestin and albumin, ideal omega-3 to 6 ratio, magnesium, zinc. No soaking, no barrier. Sourced from Vehgro.
- Artisanal tahini — stone-ground sesame paste, calcium, omega-3 and 6, hazelnut flavour.
- Kala Namak — Indian volcanic black salt, rich in iron and sulphur, strange precious taste reminiscent of egg.
- Miso (quality, unpasteurised) — long fermentation, living probiotics, deep umami.
Suppliers
These are the houses I have met and trust. Quality is held by people, by gestures, by specific choices — not by a label.
- Sol Semilla — quality superfoods (raw cacao, spirulina, maca, lucuma, açaí…) and a wonderful small restaurant in Paris.
- Épices Shira — deeply flavourful spices and natural enhancers: pure rose water, flowers, special salts, artisanal tahini.
- Biovie — focused on raw-food eating: sprouted seeds, raw nuts, exquisite freeze-dried fruits, fresh seaweeds, coconut by the palette. Free delivery code: virgile50
- Rrraw — raw chocolate supplier, innovative Parisian artisan.
- Mon Épicerie 100 % plant-based in Paris — monepicerieparis.fr
Books, tables, voices
To extend the reading, broaden the gaze, feel vibrant cooking through other hands and other voices.
- Yotam Ottolenghi — Plenty and Plenty More. Two brilliant vegetarian recipe books, full of flavour and colour.
- Garlone Bardel — Yoga Cookbook. Very effective, beautifully crafted.
- Marie Sophie L. — L'Instant Cru. My reference for flavoursome raw food.
- Emma Sawko — Wild & the Moon. The spirit of beautiful Parisian vegan canteens.
- Angèle Ferreux-Maeght & Alain Ducasse — Fées Végétales. A sumptuous book.
“Choosing an ingredient is shaking a grower's hand”
Virgile Escalant · chef-alchemist
The booklet
- Opening
The Intelligence of the Body
Precise and accurate knowledge
Intelligence is already here, within our body — perhaps the most sophisticated and subtle technology known to us.
- — I —
Energy
the inner flame
We do not eat — we burn stored light. The body is a solar machine running on two fuels.
- — II —
Proteins
the brick of the living — and its hidden origin
Meat does not contain proteins — it only carries them. The source is the plant.
- — III —
Minerals
the body's lattice
The body is a living geological formation — every mineral becomes an enzyme, a bone, a nerve, a thought.
- — IV —
Recipes & Tips
daily practice
Six engineer's gestures — soak, cook low, tune the umami, vary the oils, dose the acid, sweeten with dates — that wake the full intelligence of living matter.
- — V —
Ingredients & Suppliers
the chain of care
The ingredient is already a spiritual decision — tracing back to the hands that harvested is entering a chain of care.
- — VI —
Ayurvedic Intelligence
six tastes, one fire
A science three thousand years old described, without a microscope, what biochemistry rediscovers today — every meal is a complete sensory pharmacology.
- — VII —
Macrobiotic Intelligence
the Qi of food — Japan & China
The cuisines of East Asia do not nourish matter alone: they set energy in motion. Eating becomes an art of balance — yin and yang, the living Ki, deep umami.
- — VIII —
The Intelligence of Biohacking
giving the body back its signals
The humblest science adds nothing to us: it gives the body back the ancestral signals it has awaited for three hundred thousand years. The most powerful hack is a return.