Tailor-made vegetables from Benoît Deloffre

His silver hair, his eyes as bright as clear water and his often mischievous smile accompany his gestures and words. Benoît Deloffre learned everything from his father, a market gardener like himself: the basics of the trade, the art of observing the land, understanding it, working it... With that extra bit of audacity that constantly propels him into new projects, today in Romain, tomorrow in Reunion, Benoît Deloffre is a true innovator.Today in Romain, tomorrow in Reims on an urban farm, the day after tomorrow in Thailand, where he's helping to set up a photovoltaic market garden. From faraway places, he brings back exotic vegetables to grow in his native Champagne region. Audrey, his wife, is his constant companion. She unearths the seeds of the varieties that will arouse the curiosity of chefs.

Benoît talks about vegetables with a mixture of sensuality - as when he delicately rubs a carrot just pulled from the earth - and scientific, almost mathematical rigor. For him, the right vegetable is a fair equation with nature. Intuition, mistakes and chance often make things right (or wrong). Almost hilariously, he recalls an attack of mildew on potatoes: "I said to my father, 'We're going to mow them! As the fungus only attacks the leaves, we should be fine. He thought I'd fallen on my head", and sure enough, the mildew took off. But when the Deloffres pulled up the potatoes, the tubers were the size of a thumbnail... Tiny vegetables that Emmanuel Renaut, the chef at Flocons de Sel in Haute-Savoie, loved. Since then, Benoît has been growing Lilliputian potatoes for him. From carrot tops to 5-centimeter-long green beans, the market gardener offers tailor-made vegetables for the elite of French gastronomy. "I see them as great couturiers," he says admiringly. Before adding: "Provided that the final dish is not disconnected from the product from which it originates." A way of highlighting the relationship between chefs and market gardeners .

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Arnaud Lallement, chef at Assiette Champenoise, near Reims

How did you meet this couple of market gardeners?

Arnaud Lallement: In Reims, Audrey and Benoît were selling their vegetables under the halles du Boulingrin, and I got to know them while shopping. I was immediately seduced by the beauty of their products. And their family history reminded me of my own, the idea of transmission from father to son, and that special atmosphere of closeness and professionalism. Over time, a relationship of friendship and trust was established. You could say that we work together, with a quality of exchange: I suggest ideas to him and, in return, he shares his ideas with me. The idea for the vegetable garden adjoining the restaurant was born of our conversations. Benoît helps us to cultivate it, and our customers can walk around and discover some of the vegetables they've tasted or are about to eat at the restaurant.

What role do vegetables play in your cooking?

A. L.: It's central. I can build an entire dish around a vegetable from Benoît, because he's able to provide us with the carrot or bean we've been dreaming of for its texture, fragrance and taste. It's a precious opportunity. For me, vegetables are just as important as meat and fish. A dish is only complete when the balance between vegetable and protein is achieved, and the sauce (sometimes vegetable-based) completes the whole. In some cases, the vegetable is sufficient on its own, and the dish is then entirely plant-based.

Are vegetables more important than when you started cooking?

A. L.: I'd say yes and no. Vegetables have always played an important role in our cooking. Vegetables have always played an important role in my cooking, but they've changed a lot thanks to market gardeners like Benoît. The number of varieties has exploded, and the plant palette of colors, scents, textures and tastes we have at our disposal is incomparable with the past .