The navette is a dry boat-shaped biscuit perfumed with orange-blossom water, baked without yeast in a wood-fired oven, the canonical Marseille souvenir biscuit from the Four des Navettes since 1781.
Where to eat it: 2 restaurants across 1 city.
Four des Navettes at 136 Rue Sainte has baked the navette in a Roman-model oven since 1781, the recipe held by three families over the generations. The boat shape comes from one of two legends: either the unmanned boat that brought the Saintes Maries to the Provencal coast, or the form of a Black Virgin statue washed up at the Lacydon. Every February 2 the Archbishop of Marseille processes from the Vieux Port to Saint-Victor Abbey to bless the Black Virgin, then walks to the bakery to bless the oven and the day's navettes.
Common allergens: Gluten, Eggs
Tip from the editors. Slash the lengthwise cut deeply or it will close as the biscuit puffs; the open seam is the visual marker of a real navette.
This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.
Four des Navettes in Marseille's 7e has baked navettes since 1781, the orange-blossom boat biscuit by the paper bag, the cheapest edible Marseille souvenir from the city.
Try: Navette biscuits by the bag
Tip: Closed mid-afternoon between batches; Chandeleur morning is the day to come.
La Cure Gourmande in Marseille's 1er at the corner of La Canebiere and Rue Saint-Ferreol sells regional French biscuits and chocolates since 1989, navettes and olivettes by the box.
Tip: Generous samples at the counter; the olivettes travel well as gifts.
Worth the queue: Olivettes (almonds in dark chocolate)
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