laVie · the monthly letter

The good in life, in every dimension.

Recipes, real talk on food sensitivities, and the good in life — all in one place. Free to read; join the letter for a new issue every month.

Four sections, one table

In the Kitchen

Recipes that respect your gut and reward your palate. Real food, real cooking, every blend put to work.

26 pieces

Real Talk

The honest conversation about food sensitivities, FODMAP, IBS, and how to live well with both flavour and balance.

6 pieces

Beyond the Kitchen

Lifestyle, travel, the gut-brain conversation. Living well with food sensitivities is about more than what's on the plate.

arriving with the blends

The Founder

Personal essays from Candace — the story behind stellaVie, the questions that started everything, the things still being figured out.

1 piece

Reading now

Candace's own spice wall, straight on: a pale wooden frame on a white wall holding two wire racks of four shelves, eight glass jars to a shelf. Most jars carry a round black label, printed or handwritten and mostly in German: Garam Masala, Nelken, Zimt, Sternanis, Kurkuma, Kreuzkümmel, Sumach, Lorbeer, Liebstöckel, Majoran, Thymian, Rosmarin, and a bottom shelf of chillies from Ancho Chili to Urfa Biber. On one of the top shelves most jars are labelled on slips of paper instead.

Real Talk · 6 min read

Hidden Garlic: Where it lives in your kitchen

Garlic appears in food under many names. Here's how to find it on the label, and why it matters.

start here

Five stellaVie blends seen from above on a dark wooden board: a deep red one in a long white dish, a speckled pale one in a small round bowl, a green herb mix in a square white dish, and a red-flecked one and an orange one heaped in wooden spoons, with bay leaves and flakes of salt scattered around them.

Real Talk · 5 min read

Natural Garlic Flavouring: What it actually is

Many 'garlic-free' spice brands use natural garlic flavouring. Here's what that means biochemically, and why it can still trigger IBS.

A wooden table seen from above, laid for lunch: an orange bowl of orecchiette with greens and pieces of sausage, a yellow plate of prawns, a platter of tomato salad with basil, shaved fennel over cucumber on a blue plate, empty coral and red plates, glasses, and a bowl of fruit at the edge.

Real Talk · 7 min read

Why garlic-free doesn't have to mean bland

The assumption that removing garlic ruins flavour is wrong. Here's what actually builds depth in cooking, and why stellaVie blends taste the way they do.

Portrait of Candace, stellaVie's founder, smiling outdoors in a pink shirt, trees and a red sculpture behind her.

The Founder · 6 min read

How a frustrating spice cabinet became stellaVie

The founder story behind stellaVie, a kitchen project that became a brand.

Shaved fennel over thin rounds of cucumber on a yellow plate, glossy with olive oil and dotted with capers, on a long wooden table, bowls of fruit and a chair soft in the background.

Real Talk · 7 min read

The gut-brain connection: what eating well actually means

The science of how your gut talks to your brain, and why food sensitivities affect more than just digestion.

Oranges, lemons and a few red plums in a wide bowl speckled green and white, seen from above on a wooden table, beside an orange bowl of cherry tomatoes and a smaller one of walnuts.

Real Talk · 7 min read

What FODMAP-friendly cooking actually means

It's not a diet. It's a framework. Here's how to think about it.

A kitchen under a pale stone vault: a long grey island with a bowl of fruit and a chopping board on it, glass pendant lamps hanging above, arched alcoves holding the hob and open shelves, and a glazed door to the garden at the back.

Real Talk · 7 min read

Cooking when your body has new rules

A guide for the recently diagnosed, the recently sensitised, and anyone whose food has stopped agreeing with them.

Strips of red, orange, yellow and green sweet pepper laid out in a dark roasting tray, oiled and flecked with green herbs, not yet roasted.

Side · 35 minutes · Serves 4

Roast peppers, the everyday way

A tray of pepper strips, seasoned before they go in, and a hot oven. The weeknight default.

A whole fish baked in an opened parcel of parchment and foil, its silver skin crusted with green herbs and seasoning, lemon slices along its back, black olives at one end and parsley tucked in beside it.

Main · 40 minutes · Serves 2

Whole fish in foil with French Citrus

One whole fish, a sealed parcel of foil or parchment, and an oven doing the steaming for you.

Large shell-on prawns, heads and all, grilled deep orange with charred patches, laid over slices of grilled peach on a blue-green plate, a plate of grilled peppers at the edge of the frame behind.

Main · 25 minutes · Serves 2

AyurCurry prawns with grilled peaches

Shell-on prawns rubbed with AyurCurry, peaches charred on the same grill, and the fruit doing what the heat cannot.

Large green olives sitting in their liquid in a terracotta dish with a glazed rim, the surface thick with dried herbs and seasoning, on a slatted wooden table, with long green leaves and pale stone behind.

Starter · 5 minutes, plus 1 hour to sit · Serves 4

Market olives with French Citrus

Fresh green olives from the market in Castellana Grotte, a little of their own brine, good oil and French Citrus, left to sit.

Thin folded slices of bresaola on a cream plate with a thin brown rim, capers scattered between them, dusted red with seasoning and flecked with dried herbs and pepper, against whitewashed stone.

Starter · 5 minutes · Serves 2

Bresaola with capers and Smoke & Flame

Thin slices of bresaola, a few capers and a dusting of Smoke & Flame. No cooking, five minutes.

Seen from above, an orange bowl of rocket piled over roast peppers, a few roasted cherry tomatoes among them, with a mozzarella torn into pieces in the middle, glossy with olive oil and flecked with black pepper, the rocket dusted with red seasoning, on a wooden table.

Starter · 45 minutes · Serves 4

Roast pepper salad with rocket, mozzarella and The Daily

Peppers roasted with The Daily, rocket piled over them and a mozzarella torn open in the middle.

A twist of pale square-cut spaghetti on a pink plate, flecked with black pepper, beside roast red and yellow peppers, rocket and a piece of mozzarella dressed with olive oil and black pepper. Behind, out of focus, someone eats at a sunlit table in front of a dry stone wall.

Main · 20 minutes · Serves 2

Cacio e pepe with Bright Pepper

Fresh square-cut spaghetti, Parmesan, Bright Pepper and a little starchy water, brought together once the pan is off the heat.

Peeled raw red prawns laid in a curving fan on a yellow plate, sitting in a pool of olive oil and flecked with seasoning, a sprig of flat-leaf parsley at the top, on a pale wooden table.

Starter · 15 minutes · Serves 2

Raw prawns with Bright Pepper and lemon

Very fresh raw prawns, olive oil, lemon and Bright Pepper on a cold plate, with nothing to cook.

A wide orange bowl of rocket with sliced mozzarella in the middle, wedges of grilled peach with dark grill marks and flecks of seasoning around it, and thin slivers of fresh red chilli piled on top. Behind it on a wooden table: grapes, apples and other fruit, a bottle, salt and pepper mills and the edge of a pink plate.

Side · 25 minutes · Serves 4

Rocket salad with Honey'd Heat grilled peaches

Peaches grilled with Honey'd Heat on rocket and mozzarella, dressed with Bright Pepper, olive oil and a splash of white balsamic.

Raw potato chunks, some with their skins on, flecked with dark seasoning and sprigs of rosemary, in an ochre glazed bowl with a serving fork, ready to go into the oven.

Side · 1 hour · Serves 4

Roast potatoes with The Daily and Chilli Libre

Potato chunks tossed with two blends and rosemary, roasted until the edges crisp, with enough left over for tomorrow.

A thick round omelette, golden with dark streaks across the top, on a white plate on a wooden garden table, piled with sliced tomato and strips of red, yellow and green pepper under a scatter of chopped green herbs, with sunlit greenery behind.

Main · 30 minutes · Serves 2

Potato omelette with French Citrus

Yesterday's roast potatoes and peppers in a thick, turned omelette, under a sharp salad of raw tomato and peppers.

A grilled steak sliced across the grain on a bamboo board, pink inside, with a browned, seasoned crust, grill marks and flecks of herb. Behind it, grilled courgette on a blue plate, a terracotta bowl of green olives and an orange bowl, with a knife at the left edge.

Main · 1 hour, including resting · Serves 3

Barbecued steak with Smoke & Flame

A flank or bavette steak over a two-zone fire, rested, then sliced thin across the grain.

Thick white yoghurt spread across a deep orange plate, topped with chunks of grilled pineapple with charred, red-flecked edges, some folded into the yoghurt, and whole roasted hazelnuts, one blackened on one side, in low sunlight.

Breakfast · 25 minutes · Serves 2

Greek yoghurt with Honey'd Heat pineapple and hazelnuts

Warm grilled pineapple on cold yoghurt, a little heat under the sweetness, and roasted hazelnuts for crunch.

Grilled sausages with dark bar marks lined up on a blue-glazed plate beside two rounds of grilled pineapple flecked red and green with seasoning, a peach half in front and a charred piece of peach behind; in the background, a yellow bowl of orecchiette with greens and pieces of sausage.

Main · 35 minutes · Serves 2

Chicken and turkey sausages with Honey'd Heat pineapple and peaches

Chicken and turkey sausages off the grill, with pineapple and peaches charred beside them and finished with Honey'd Heat.

A poached egg on smashed avocado spread over a thick slice of toast, both scattered with dried green herbs and small red flecks, on a white plate on a speckled stone counter.

Breakfast · 10 minutes · Serves 1

Avocado toast with a poached egg

Smashed avocado on sourdough, a soft poached egg on top, and The Daily over both.

Halved cherry tomatoes and slices of red and yellow-green tomato on a wide cream plate with a thin brown rim, scattered with capers and basil leaves, on a pale wooden table.

Side · 20 minutes, mostly waiting · Serves 4

Tomato salad with The Daily

Tomatoes, capers and basil, no cooking, and the blend doing most of the work.

A thick steak resting on an end-grain oak board under a heavy dark crust of cracked pepper, four slices cut from the near end and fanned out beside it.

Main · 45 minutes, mostly resting · Serves 2

Steak with Chilli Libre

A blend with no sugar in it, which is exactly why it belongs on a steak.

A wide white bowl of roughly mashed guacamole with a fork resting in it, on a wooden board in a working kitchen, a plate of spice-rubbed chicken beside it.

Starter · 10 minutes · Serves 4

Guacamole with Smoke and Flame

Smoke on a guacamole, without lighting anything or opening a tin of chipotle.

A fried egg on an end-grain oak board, its set white scattered with green herbs and flecks of red chilli and its edges lacy and browned, a cut loaf and two thick slices of bread on the board beside it.

Breakfast · 5 minutes · Serves 1

A fried egg, seasoned like you meant it

Three minutes, one egg, and the case for keeping a herb blend within reach of the hob.

Squares of baked gibanica on a square white plate, the filo blistered gold with white cheese showing between the layers, an enamel mug of yoghurt on the wooden board beside it.

Main · 1 hour · Serves 6

Gibanica, and the seasoning question inside it

The Serbian cheese pie, with the acidity moved from the glass beside it into the filling.

A whole side of salmon on a dark oven tray, the flesh crusted with cracked pepper and herbs, scattered with chopped parsley and dill and laid with seven overlapping lemon slices.

Main · 35 minutes · Serves 6

A whole side of salmon with Bright Pepper

One tray, one side of fish, and the fold that stops the thin end drying while the thick end cooks.

An open burger on a white plate outdoors: the seared patty on the base bun under two thick tomato slices dusted with red spice, the crown spread with mustard and lined with yellow pepper batons.

Main · 25 minutes · Serves 4

The indoor burger with an outdoor flavour

Smoke & Flame in the mince and on the tomato, for the char a frying pan cannot give you.

Shaved fennel piled over overlapping rounds of cucumber on a wide yellow plate, glossy with olive oil and scattered with capers, on a wooden table with a chair blurred behind.

Side · 10 minutes · Serves 4

Cucumber, fennel and capers with Bright Pepper

Ten minutes, no cooking: shaved fennel over cucumber, a few capers, and a blend with the lemon already in it.

A whole cooked corn cob on a white plate, its yellow kernels glistening and scattered with red chilli flakes, dark specks of pepper and a few flecks of dried green herbs, more of the seasoning spilled across the plate around it.

Side · 15 minutes · Serves 4

Corn on the cob with The Daily and Chilli Libre

A whole cob, cooked until sweet, buttered while it is hot and dusted with The Daily and Chilli Libre.

Roast carrot coins spread across baking parchment, glossy with oil and flecked with dark specks of spice, a few browned at the edges.

Side · 40 minutes · Serves 4

Roast carrots with Honey'd Heat

Sweet against warm, in the one vegetable that already meets it halfway.

A close-up of pale golden potato fries piled on a white plate, heavily dusted with a red spice blend flecked with dried green herbs, more of the seasoning spread across the plate around them.

Side · 1 hour 20 minutes · Serves 4

Smoke & Flame fries

Air-fried fries, cut, soaked, dried and cooked crisp, then tossed in Smoke & Flame while they are hot.

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