Snapshots from the South of France: Navettes
It’s easy to forget in our modern, secular world, but France is a Catholic country. Even its food contains a drop of Holy Water.
In the South of France, there docks a very widespread yet singular cookie in the shape of a boat. It is called a Navette, which takes its name from a word that originally meant "boat," but now means something closer to "shuttle." The story goes that at one point, Mary Magdalene sailed to Marseilles, and these little cookies have been made ever since to commemorate her voyage.
They are simple, but crisp and crumbly. Not too sweet. Hand-shaped and rustic. And best of all, though they are traditionally flavored with orange flower water, you can find cinnamon, chocolate, vanilla, lavender, and orange varieties. They contain nothing but flour, sugar, butter, yeast, and water, and whatever flavoring you plan to add, and they are sold in vast quantities nearly everywhere. There are mountains of them in the little butter cookie shops that bedazzle every southern town, but go to a small bakery. They are better there.
They are the perfect tea cookie, but I usually ate a couple sitting on a dock, overlooking the sea. Keeping watch for any boats coming into harbor. Une petite Marsaillaise.
About the author: Kerry Saretsky is the creator of French Revolution Food, where she reinvents her family's classic French recipes in a fresh, chic, modern way. She also writes the French in a Flash and The Secret Ingredient series for Serious Eats.
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11 Comments:
"France is a Catholic country"
France was a Catholic country. Today the law of the land is fiercely secular, much more so than in the US. Over there you would not get away with crap like "In God We Trust" on national currency, or "One Nation Under God" and the like. Any outward religious demonstrations are formally banned from public institutions. You can't wear a headscarf to school, and you can't wear a crucifix either. Same goes for banks, post offices, or any other public institutions. Church attendance in France is less than 10%. The church has been reviled in France, they see themselves as secular humanists. The church was kicked to the curb long long ago. Good thing too, we could use some of that spirit here.
simon at 12:51PM on 06/19/09
WOW.. simon, that comment was not even remotely food related.
Is there anywhere here that I can get Navettes? (preferably NY) I'm intrigued. Or perhaps orange flower water?
engmcmuffin at 1:45PM on 06/19/09
Recipe? Oh come on now you tease!!!
JerzeeTomato at 2:57PM on 06/19/09
Luckily the French have retained the good Catholic-ish things like magnificent cathedrals, extra holidays and bouche de noel.
Also, given the texture, I don't think Navettes contain yeast. Marseilles is a terrifically under-rated food town.
Dish at 6:56PM on 06/19/09
Simon, I think we already have some of that "spirit" here, and it ain't necessarily good.
Sorry for the non-food related response, but I hadda do it.
moibec at 10:17PM on 06/19/09
I recognize the signage in the second picture - that's La Cure Gourmand! I loved how navettes are so fragrant with orange blossom water, but every time I eat them I feel like I need to drink something because they're so hard! I actually liked the ridged cookies in the centre of the picture better. I can't remember what they're called, but they're softer and round, and have different fillings in the middle, like raspberry, lemon, orange (with little bits of rind), chocolate, and coconut.
chocomoo at 1:50AM on 06/20/09
They seems like the dry type of cookies, so perhaps when dunked in a cup of hot latte.
gargupie at 7:32AM on 06/20/09
I'm with Jerzee -- don't tease us like that and then not give up the recipe!!
suthungirl at 3:02PM on 06/20/09
Gourmet printed a recipe for navettes sucrees (sugar shuttles) last winter. They are delicious.
http://www.gourmet.com/recipes/1950s/1951/12/sugar-shuttles
peglar at 12:23PM on 06/22/09
I'm hoping the old saying "better late than never" still holds true for this navette recipe! This is the only recipe I have--it's from an unpublished cookbook from a farm in Lourmarin called La Ferme Gerbaud. Every so often, a group of farm owners in the area who, by their own standards, still keep a Provencal outlook in their products and farming, come together to set down some of the most traditional recipes of the region, as made by them, to sell only at their farms. La Ferme Gerbaud sold these lavender navettes in a big glass canister, and if you ever get a chance to visit them, you'll learn more than you ever thought existed on the topic of lavender. But, if you're not as into lavender as I am, replace it with the more traditional orange flower water. They're so good that way. Here is my translation:
Lavender Navettes (from La Ferme Gerbaud's cookbook)
250 g flour
125 g sugar
1 egg
45 g butter
10 g dried lavender flours
½ packet of yeast
A bit of water
Mix the yeast into the flour. Add the lavender flowers, sugar, melted butter, the whole egg, and the water.
Cut the dough into three or four pieces.
On a “marble” that’s been floured, roll the pieces into sausages about as thick as you want to make the navettes. Cut the sausages in slices, rolling them with your hand to give each slice it’s oval shape, long and lean at both ends. Then place them on a butter baking sheet some centimeters apart from each other. With a knife, make a well-centered longitudinal nick in each navette. Cook in a moderate oven, the time being between about 10 and 20 minutes, depending on the size of the navettes.
Kerry Saretsky at 3:33AM on 07/19/09
Sorry, sorry, not yeast. Baking powder! Unfortunately, the recipe doesn't indicate how much baking powder that is; hopefully I'll find a packet of French yeast, and will update.
Kerry Saretsky at 12:13PM on 07/19/09