Maison Dehesa
Paris, France · Since 2011
Why we trust them. Maison Dehesa was founded to rescue small Spanish producers whose traditional methods had been judged too slow and too costly to survive, and it applies the model of the French luxury ateliers to food production. Its products have been awarded the Épicure d'Or in both 2018 and 2022, and by 2022 were served at more than 450 Michelin-starred tables across Europe, Asia and Canada.
The house. Founded in 2011 by Florence Châtelet Sanchez, born into a Franco-Spanish family of craftsmen and farmers. After studying at Sciences Po in Paris and working in war reporting and ethical finance, a serious accident at thirty brought her back to the dehesa of her childhood, where she met a family of Pata Negra producers on the brink of bankruptcy. Working alongside them, she developed slow maturation, a process that combines Mediterranean and Japanese fermentation, curing and ageing crafts, using humidity controlled individually for each product and ferments native to it.
What they make. Iberian charcuterie: Pata Negra ham aged up to eight years, lomo and chorizo de bellota · Cured and smoked seafood: XL and XXL Cantabrian anchovies, mullet bottarga, sardines and eel smoked in the Japanese manner, tuna ventrèche and red tuna aged katsuobushi-style · Fine groceries: black garlic, extra virgin olive oil and fifty-year-old Pedro Ximénez balsamic vinegar.
Mons Fromager-Affineur
Saint-Haon-le-Châtel, Loire — France · Since the 1960s
Why we trust them. Mons is one of the most respected cheese-ripening houses in France, recognised by the French State with the Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant label. Hervé Mons was awarded the title of Meilleur Ouvrier de France in 2000, and was made a Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur in January 2026. The house works with a range of around 200 cheeses, varying with the seasons.
Discover Maison Mons | Mons fromages +2
The house. Founded in the 1960s on the Côte Roannaise, when Hubert Mons and his wife Rolande began selling cheese on local markets. Their eldest son Hervé opened the first shop at the Halles Diderot in Roanne in 1983 and created the ripening cellars at Saint-Haon-le-Châtel, later rehabilitating the Tunnel de la Collonge, a former railway tunnel now used as a natural affinage cave. Today Mons cheeses are exported to more than thirty countries. The house is now led by the third generation, Jules Mons.
Visite des caves d'affinage de la fromagerie Mons à Saint-Haon-le-Châtel - ICI +2
What they make. Farmhouse and AOP cheeses from every region of France, matured in their own cellars · Own production from the Laiterie de la Côte Roannaise, founded in 2016 using organic milk from local producers · Fourme de Montbrison AOP from the Fromagerie des Hautes Chaumes in Sauvain
Maison Barthouil
Peyrehorade, Landes — Francia · Desde 1929
Por qué confiamos en ellos. Maison Barthouil es una de las pocas casas francesas que sigue elaborando foie gras y salmón ahumado íntegramente a mano, con los mismos métodos que emplea desde 1929. Su saber hacer artesanal cuenta con el sello del Estado francés Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant, otorgado en 2021 y renovado desde entonces: una distinción reservada a los oficios raros y ancestrales.
La casa. Fundada en Peyrehorade, en el sur de las Landas, por Gaston Barthouil, quien incorporó el ahumado de salmón en 1935 y lo perfeccionó en Dinamarca en 1958, adaptando la técnica con madera de aliso de las orillas del Adour. Hoy está dirigida por la tercera generación, las hermanas Pauline y Guillemette Barthouil, y sigue abasteciendo a La Grande Épicerie de Paris y a Galeries Lafayette Le Gourmet.
Qué elaboran. Foie gras de pato y de oca · Salmón, trucha y pescados salvajes ahumados, salados y cortados a mano · Taramas, huevas de pescado y botarga · Caviar · Confits, patés, magrets y terrinas de caza
