For dairy I have salted and non-salted butters from Bordier, heavy cream, full fat milk and a good aged hard cheese like Comté or Beaufort. My dry store includes full-bodied red and dry white wines, red and champagne vinegars and excellent extra virgin olive oil like Estoublon from Provence. I keep coarse, fleur and fine sea salts preferably from Guérande, white and black pepper only from the mill. Pastry wise, good dark chocolate, Bourbon vanilla pods, white and cane sugars, all-purpose flour and gelatine leaves are essential.

Sauté 1kg of yellow onions (4mm slices) with olive oil in a heavy bottom pan over medium heat. Then add 2 tbsp of butter and a pinch of fine sea salt. Sauté slowly and stir over medium heat for 60 minutes until caramelised and golden brown. On high heat, add a large glass of dry white wine and reduce to half. Then mix in 50g of flour, add oxtail stock and a cloth pocket of thyme sprigs, 2 peeled garlic cloves, 1.5 tsp of black peppercorns and 2 fresh bay leaves. Simmer over medium heat for 1 hour. Remove the cloth pocket and season with salt and pepper and a few drops of vintage sherry vinegar. Grill 1.5cm-thick slices of stale country bread with olive oil and fine sea salt until golden brown. Fill oven-safe cups 2cm from the rim with soup and lay the bread on top. Generously grate on an aged comté cheese or gruyère and place the bowls under a grill. When the cheese bubbles, it is ready.

Keep a fitted lid for the pan ready. If things go wrong, cover it and lower the heat immediately. The food should be hot when you add alcohol and always pour delicately from a small ladle, never from the bottle. Ignite with a match and keep the pan moving to burn off the alcohol. Desserts like crêpe suzette or baked Alaska benefit most from the concentrated flavour liquor from flambé. Always flambé on a fire-proof surface such as a mar¬ble or stainless steel countertop and never on cloth.

It is important not to take shortcuts when marinating a large stewing hen. The red wine breaks down tough fibres so make sure it marinates for 24-36 hours. Then, brown the chicken for at least eight minutes on each side. Make sure the cocotte you use is the right size. The larger the cocotte, the more liquid should be used. The poultry should cook while submerged at all times at a consistent low simmer for around one hour. Any stew tastes better the next day, so refrigerate overnight and allow the flavour to penetrate. Reheat slowly on medium heat to serve.

First, good fresh livers do not need to be coated for frying. Slice them into pieces about 2cm thick and season with fine sea salt. Grease a non-stick heavy bottom pan with a little grape seed oil to stop the Teflon from burn¬ing, then heat the pan until it starts to fume. There is no need for more oil. Fry both sides on high heat for 20 seconds each, then lower the heat and cook gently for two-and-a-half minutes on each side. The fat on the pan makes a great base to sauté fruits like large, diced half-ripe mangoes. Deglaze the pan with vintage red wine vinegar and serve with the foie gras.

There is no cheap option to compare with Winter Périgord truffles (Tuber melanosporum). The widely available summer truffle is much cheaper but of no interest. Store-bought truffle oils are mostly synthetic and hard to digest, and pastes are often made from truffles with little flavour or scent. Some solutions are premium canned truffles but make sure they are Tuber melanosporum. Flash frozen truffles are superior but more expensive. Or, submerge a fresh black Périgord truffle in a small glass Weck jar of excellent extra virgin olive oil to make homemade truffle oil. Keep it cool at all times and use it in three months or less.

Melt 40g of salted butter and set aside, then whisk three eggs and an extra yolk. In a new bowl, combine 200g of all-purpose flour, the beaten eggs and 35g of sugar with a spatula. Add 500ml of lukewarm full-fat milk and whisk until smooth before adding the melted butter and the seeds from one vanilla bean. Beat to remove all lumps and rest the covered batter at room temperature for 45 minutes. Melt a small knob of unsalted butter in a non-stick, heavy bottom pan (20-25cm diameter). Ladle the batter into the pan’s centre on medium heat and swirl to spread it evenly. Cook for a minute on each side until golden brown. It should be no thicker than one millimetre. Keep warm by piling on a plate which goes on a pan of hot water.