Blending spices is a relatively modern and complex technique. Putting aside allspice (a spice originating from a tree) which is in itself a ready-made blend of four spice flavours, the first blends only began to be seen in the 70's, when Paul Bocuse made his “sel épicé” (made up of salt, pepper and indeed allspice).

However, it was Olivier Roellinger who gave the more complex spices their renown by giving them greater meaning. Take the épice corsaire, a fine, balanced blend of the 18 spices unloaded on the docks at Saint-Malo in the 17th century, recreating the taste of voyages to new continents, and giving a taste of the exotic, a complex blend of flavours, to any dish. 

The trick is adding these notes of complexity and just the right amount of flavours to bring that certain je ne sais quoi to your dishes.  

Where to find spice blends: l’Entrepôt Epices de Cancale and l’épicerie Lion, rue des Abesses, Paris and of course, online at : (http://www.epices-roellinger.com/)  

Select a few good Roma tomatoes. Peel, seed, chop into small pieces, salt lightly and, most importantly, leave them to drain of water… Then puree in a dish towel, mix with a small amount of julienned leeks and season with a balsamic vinegar and olive oil vinaigrette, salt and pepper and finish it all off with your favorite fresh herbs!

The point of a vegetable antipasti is to brown some vegetables and serve them cold later. There are as many recipes as there are spices and condiments. One of the possible variants is to coat the vegetables, before they go cold, in a vinaigrette made from Balsamic vinegar, olive oil and Savora mustard - a mustard full of flavour!

For a tasty marinade, the food being marinated must not touch the bottom of the container (use a small rack, for example) and it must be completely covered in the marinade (to avoid alteration by the air).

In order to effectively avoid this alteration, it is preferable to add a fine emulsion with fat (oil, for example) to the marinade.

If the food is to be seared after being marinated, use a fruit brandy: it will evaporate more rapidly and thus facilitate the searing!

Another solution to lightly marinate your food: wet the food with a brush and wrap it in plastic wrap before placing it in the refrigerator for two hours. Your food will not only be marinated, but delicately conserved!

A tournedos is cut from the central part of the tenderloin. Make sure that you choose a piece with all tendons removed, which is purplish red in color (bright red means that the meat will not be tender). A Tournedos “Rossini” has a slice of seared foie gras on top and is served with Madeira wine sauce with truffles.