The French have a word for the small things that make a meal: the condiments, the capers, the mustard on the side. L’Épicurien, a small maison in the south of France, makes the mustards we keep closest to the stove. Mustard with lemon zest and thyme is the one for vinaigrettes, roast chicken and a pan sauce that needs brightening; mustard with Périgord truffle turns a simple pork tenderloin or a cheese toast into something worth a second helping. Both are made in small batches with a proper mustard heat.
Beside them sit Mediterranean capers, firm and clean, for piccata, puttanesca and a salsa verde; triple-filtered olive brine for a dirty martini that tastes of olives rather than of the jar; Marasca cherries from Hotel Starlino for a Manhattan or a spoonful over gelato; and tinned tuna and ventresca from José Gourmet, the kind of pantry fish you serve straight from the tin with good bread and tomatoes.
None of these are expensive. All of them change a weeknight.
