Chapter VI
Ingredients & Suppliers
— the chain of care —
« I share here my favorite foods and my hidden-gem suppliers — the ones that make plant-based food nourishing and delicious. »
Here I share the foods and suppliers I have discovered and come to love for their quality and variety. I have added a selection of books, a few restaurants and the podcast Patate by Alice Tuyet, which is wonderful! It all moves in the same direction: a healthier, more delicious way of eating.
My favorite ingredients
These ingredients return again and again in my kitchen for their nutritional, energetic and gustatory value.
Raw Criollo cacao
ancient rare variety (1 % of world production), whose exceptional nutritional qualities the raw form keeps intact.
Spirulina
blue-green algae at 50-70 % complete protein, chlorophyll and bioavailable iron; ideal as flakes or fresh.
Maca
Andean adaptogenic tuber, hormonal balance, sustained energy.
Lucuma
Andean fruit with a caramel-maple taste, comforting and divine; a natural low-glycemic sweetener.
Hulled hemp seeds
the simplest complete protein: nearly 10 g per 30 g (more than an egg), highly digestible, sprinkled just as they are. From Vehgro.
Artisanal tahini
stone-ground sesame paste, rich in calcium, with a hazelnut flavor.
A selection of salts
kala namak with its egg-like taste, blue, pink, smoked salt, fleur de sel: each amplifies a flavor.
Miso (quality, unpasteurized)
long fermentation, living probiotics, deep umami.
Lion's mane (Hericium erinaceus)
the mushroom of memory and mental clarity.
Bourbon vanilla
for relaxation and deep sweetness; dry-infused in a honey, it becomes a treasure.
Saffron
for good mood and a luminous spirit; a few threads are enough.
Raw monofloral honeys
for their high vibration; infused or fermented, they become augmented honeys.
The Rose
as a hydrosol, for its vibration that lifts and improves everything it touches.
Freeze-dried fruits
cold-dried, they keep color, aromas and nutrients: crunchy and light, eaten whole or as a powder. From Biovie and Vehgro.
Raw nut butters
almond, hazelnut, cashew: the living, creamy fat, cold-ground, that binds everything. From Ingvi or Jurassic Fruit.
Coconut
virgin oil, coconut butter and fresh coconuts: tropical sweetness and a good heat-stable fat. Fresh coconuts from Jurassic Fruit.
Fresh dates
nature's caramel: soft, rich in potassium, they sweeten a cream or energy balls naturally. Barhi, Ajwa, Piarom, from Jurassic Fruit.
Herbal teas & 3 garden herbs
sage, lemon verbena and rosemary, gathered from the garden all summer: rosemary with ginger through the day, verbena in the evening, sage with vegetables.
Fresh bee pollen
the golden flakes of the hive, kept frozen: a spoonful over a porridge, always raw.
Furikake, gomasio & dukkah
the powders that sign a dish as a finish: sesame, seaweed, toasted spices. And a shower of yeast for that 'cheesy' umami.
Suppliers
Here are my favorite suppliers: they offer healthier, more varied, sometimes more affordable products, and each one thoughtfully complements the local market and organic shops.
- Biovie — raw food at its peak: fresh coconuts, freeze-dried fruits, fresh pollen, sprouted seeds and seaweeds. biovie.fr ↗
- Fruitstock — tropical fruits from Andalusia through a buying group: gourmet avocados, heavenly mangoes, and a remarkably serious plant-based catalog. fruitstock.fr ↗
- Jurassic Fruit — ultra-fresh, flavorful tropical fruits, gourmet dates, exquisite honeys, fresh coconuts and rare varieties; they also resell Ingvi products. Delivery across Europe. jurassicfruit.com ↗
- Ingvi — the nut specialists: raw activated nut butters, dried fruits, essential oils and hydrosols. ingvi.de ↗
- Arca Gourmet — the same demand for nuts, almonds above all: their supreme turrón with almond butter, honey and spices is a peak. arca-gourmet.com ↗
- Rrraw — a Parisian artisan, one product taken to the extreme: raw cacao with no sugar. The chocolate revolution. rrraw.fr ↗
- Épices Shira — wild, gastronomic spices: peppers, saffron, vanilla, smoked spices, rose, furikake, dukkah, Indian blends and chai. shira.fr ↗
- Nishikidori & le Comptoir des Poivres — one man, two passions: spices (vanilla, saffron, peppers, salts) and a vast Japanese selection: seaweeds, oils, sesame, tamari, fresh miso, condiments and dried flowers. nishikidori.com ↗
- Workshop Issé — the finest ultra-fresh Japanese teas, a master of living sake, unpasteurized long-fermented miso and soy sauces, real fresh wasabi. Praised by Alain Ducasse — and by me! workshop-isse.fr ↗
- Le Parti du Thé — the same rigor for Chinese teas: ultra-fresh green, white and oolong teas, fine harvests and gardens chosen with care. lepartiduthe.com ↗
- L'Arbre à Café — exquisite, minimally processed coffees, Demeter-certified, lightly roasted: they sharpen the mind without rattling the body. larbreacafe.com ↗
- Terroirs d'Avenir — a selection of utterly exceptional producers, the network that supplies the finest tables. terroirs-avenir.fr ↗
- Vehgro — the king of bulk superfoods: functional and gastronomic mushrooms, freeze-dried fruit powders, Ayurvedic powders (brahmi, shatavari, ashwagandha) and a thousand treasures. vehgroshop.fr ↗
Cookbooks, restaurants and podcasts
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 flavor and color. ottolenghi.co.uk ↗
- Marie Sophie L. — L'Instant Cru. My reference for flavorful raw food. mariesophiel.com ↗
- Emma Sawko — Wild & the Moon. The spirit of beautiful Parisian vegan canteens. wildandthemoon.ae ↗
- Angèle Ferreux-Maeght & Alain Ducasse — Fêtes Végétales. A sumptuous book. leslibraires.fr ↗
- Sadhguru · Isha Foundation — A Taste of Well-Being. Recipes from the Isha Yoga Center kitchen, illuminated by Sadhguru's vision of the art of eating — a book we keep close to the stove. ishalife.sadhguru.org ↗
- Eminé & Paul Rushton — Sattva — The Ayurvedic Way to Live Well. Sattva — the ayurvedic way to live well: sattva turned into a daily art of living, through the hours and the seasons, by Eminé & Paul Rushton. waterstones.com ↗
- Matt Amsden — Rawvolution. High raw and living cuisine, gourmet through and through. barnesandnoble.com ↗
- Farmacy Kitchen Cookbook — the book of London's Farmacy restaurant: plant-based cooking, beautiful and refined. hachette.co.uk ↗
- Restaurant 42 Degrés (Paris) — their new book, raw and living cuisine at its peak. amazon.fr ↗
- Garlone Bardel — Yoga Cookbook. Very effective, beautifully crafted. editions-ulmer.fr ↗
“Choosing good ingredients means choosing your body's materials: you build it stronger, more adaptable, and it needs far fewer repairs”
Virgile Health · chef-alchemist
The chapters
- — 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 life — 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 —
Ingenious Tips
the gestures that wake the matter
The precious tips that elevate my cooking — soak, cook low, tune the umami, vary the oils, dose the acid, sweeten with plants — and the right tools, to wake the full intelligence of living matter.
- — V —
Recipes
daily practice
The whole collection of living recipes — from everyday bowls to longevity broths, from raw sweets to mineral ferments — where every gesture learned becomes flavor.
- — VI —
Ingredients & Suppliers
the chain of care
I share here my favorite foods and my hidden-gem suppliers — the ones that make plant-based food nourishing and delicious.
- — VII —
Ayurvedic Intelligence
six tastes, one fire
A science three thousand years old described, without a microscope, what biochemistry is rediscovering today — every meal is a complete sensory pharmacology.
- — X —
The Sattvic State
bliss, the joy of the present — to activate and nourish it
Our inner states are not our nature: they are qualities of light. Depending on the day, the same consciousness is limpid, ardent or veiled — and we are the only living being able to tune its own, through food, breath, sleep.
- — XI —
The State of Action
drive, strength, focus — to light it with intelligence
Action is not a matter of willpower alone: it is a chemistry the body mobilises — and one that food can light or extinguish. To understand this system is to better master our states of mind.
- — XII —
The Technology of Rest and Sleep
the great nightly workshop — and the art of recovery
Sleep is not lost time: it is the body's most active workshop. And rest, chosen, is not an absence — it is a regeneration. We do not force sleep: we invite it, by giving it back its signals.
- — XIII —
Feminine Intelligence
nourishing the rhythms of women's bodies — cycle, transitions, carrying life
Women's bodies live in rhythms — the cycle of the month, the great transitions of a life. None is a problem to correct: they are intelligences to accompany. We treat nothing — we nourish the terrain, so that vitality returns on its own.