Meet Naomi Mobed and Le Bon Magot | The Cheese Professor

In our never-ending hunt for great cheese condiments, we came across Le Bon Magot, a line of bold and vibrant preserves inspired by family recipes. The product line changes seasonally, is based on the availability of fresh fruit and produce, and includes spices from 3 different sources including the renowned spice blender Lior Lev Sercarz of La Boîte.

Globe trotting company founder Naomi Mobed has lived in Tehran, Hong Kong, London, Dubai and the US. We caught up with her recently to learn more about Le Bon Magot.

What’s your background in food?

I’m not professionally trained, I pretty much learned to cook from my family, in my mom’s kitchen and grandmother and from my aunts who were in catering in Pakistan. One of them was a provider of potato chips to hotels and restaurants that grew into a multi-million dollar business. I always knew I wanted to do something in food but I went down different paths including banking before starting the company.

How did you end up creating Le Bon Magot?

After my last gig in Dubai it seemed like the right time. When I came back to the states I really thought I was going to open a breakfast and lunch spot and start small. I took a weekend course on different aspects of the food industry and I realized if I manufactured, it might allow me to be a little more flexible (because at the time I was living between London and the US) and it would be less of a financial commitment…but I was wrong! It gave me no flexibility and was expensive, but that’s how I got started.

Why condiments?

I was frustrated with what was available in the marketplace, both mainstream and ethnic products —I hated that label, it’s so limiting. I wanted to launch a range that broke traditional categories. We started with jams and chutneys because we had the recipes and it was the quickest route with the least regulatory hurdles, so for a novice it seemed like the path of least resistance….but again I was wrong!

How do you eat and serve condiments?

In my family, we serve at least 2-3 varieties of pickles at every meal. So whether you’re having a breast of chicken or lentils and rice or a stew, pickles are a great way to change up the flavor. Your main meal can be very humble but with varieties of pickles you change the flavor. You could even eat them with just naan or roti. They are made from fresh vegetables so it suffices as a simple meal.

I wanted to break away from the way they were traditionally used. My mom brought some eggplant pickle to me when I was living in London. One night I opened a can of chickpeas, took some potatoes, and dumped it together in a pot and served it with a dollop of yogurt. I knew it was fresh eggplant, it wasn’t filled with preservatives or canned vegetables. It made a great base for a stew. Often times I would be building a cheese board and I wanted to incorporate it or slather it on a sandwich, that’s how I was using them.

What was the first product you produced?

We had 3 out of the gate, the Tomato and White Sultana Chutney with Ginger & Garam Masala is the top seller, but also the White Pumpkin and Almond Murabba Preserves with Cardamom and Ginger and Brinjal Caponata—Aubergine with Cumin & Curry Leaves. The White Pumpkin and Almond Murabba is my grandmother’s recipe, she made it with rosewater. We used her spice blend with cardamom and cinnamon. The caponata is my mother’s recipe and my grandmother made it too. The tomato was an aunt’s recipe. We came out of the gate with family recipes. The marmalades came next. I love the dried fruit marmalades from North Africa and Turkey, but they can be too sweet so I decided to introduce a little more acid and spice blends from the region. It was key to be able to blend them in a way that made sense and find high quality ingredients. Since there are only 2-3 spices they have to be very high quality. The carrot one took over a year to get right because the color wasn’t coming out right. It’s based on a traditional recipe. We wanted to change the flavor a little and used with a mineralized sugar from India called jaggery.

The Sour Cherry Pomegranate Preserve tastes like an amazing sour cherry jam my mother used to make me when I was growing up in Tehran. We would make batches over a weekend. We have big jars of mango pickle right now that I made with my mom with vinegar and it sits for 2 weeks or a month.

How do you recommend pairing them with cheese?

You can make a grilled cheese sandwich with any of them. Some you can slather on, others you can use as a dip. The Tomato and White Sultana Chutney is incredibly versatile, but wonderful with goat’s milk or sheep's milk feta but also with a clothbound cheddar. I personally love it with a Stilton or any relatively younger blue. I like a younger blue. I also love it with sheep or cow gouda with an unwaxed finish. Any farmhouse cheese—even cream cheese.

The Brinjal Caponata apart with hummus, it also goes well with anything alpine, a young Comte, I find a good gouda works well too or any alpine cheese.

The Spiced Raisin Marmalata is interesting, there are some smoky notes, so cured cheeses or preserved with ash do well with them. Also any washed rind or wine or lager washed do well with the spiced raisin.

The Lemon Sultana Marmalata is good with ricotta and ricotta salata.

The Sour Cherry Pomegranate Preserve is incredibly versatile dolcetlatte or gorgonzola but an array of cheeses.

The Carrot and Fruit Conserve with coriander and jaggery is more particular, I love it with Roblechon or gorgonzola or paired with spicy nuts, together they work beautifully.

The White Pumpkin can be served on a bagel with cream cheese or on yogurt. There are countless ways to use the products!