“We always stopped at Maison Villaret to buy some”: minerves, a traditional Nîmes specialty and a real local Proust madeleine

Cécilia, vendeuse à la Maison Villaret avec les fameuses minerves nîmoises. Midi Libre – E.A.

Elsa, a saleswoman at Pâtés nîmois and her neck braces from P'tit Joanin. Midi Libre – E.A.

In Nîmes, only two bakeries offer these purely local specialties. And each one adds its own personal touch.

“I remember, when I was a child, when my mother took me to the speech therapist in Nîmes, we always stopped at Maison Villaret to buy neck braces”,remembers Frédéric Buisson, manager of Pâtés nîmois, located on Place de l’horloge, next to Maison Villaret. With the Nîmes institution, they are the only two businesses in Nîmes to offer these local specialties: a slice of brioche topped with royal icing, made with egg whites and icing sugar.

The original recipe: leftovers from the kingdom

And while many people consider this specialty to be their Proust madeleine, few know its true history and, above all, its 100% Nîmes origin. “At the time, neck braces were made with leftovers from the kingdom. To avoid throwing them away, we cut slices on which we added royal icing. My father had tried to recreate the real recipe, but it hadn't worked very well in his time”, he acknowledges. Like him before him, his grandfather, but also his great-grandfather, and the seven generations before him, already sold this delicacy. “I didn't have the chance to know my grandfather, but my father told me that he offered neck braces in his bakery in Marguerittes. So, when my brother and I came across his recipes, we decided to get started too”, continues the baker.

Brioches that he offers in his shop on rue de la Madeleine and which have already won over his customers. “Today, we make a brioche especially for the Minervas. And if initially, the elders put orange blossom in the brioche, we preferred to add panettone flavoring”, he specifies. A revisited recipe, which has notably managed to retain non-connoisseurs. “Among those who didn't know it and who have tasted it, many come back especially for the neck braces. It's great, it's what we wanted”, he rejoices.

“It has a reassuring and comforting side”

A few steps away, at the Maison Villaret, the recipe has remained unchanged since 1775, the date this institution opened. It will also celebrate its 250th anniversary this year! “All our brioches are made with orange blossom. And we add royal icing, flavored with bitter almond, lemon and a little almond powder”, explains Rémy Brayde, who is behind the stove. A recipe that never ceases to seduce their customers, all generations combined. “Some tell us that they already ate them when they came with their grandmother”, adds his brother Benoît.

A specialty that, although it may have been forgotten for a while, is regaining all its nobility today. “I call it an old man's delicacy, but not in a pejorative sense. It can be enjoyed early in the afternoon, with coffee and hot tea. It has a reassuring and comforting side”, concludes Frédéric Buisson.

Maison Villaret, 13 Rue de la Madeleine. Grande Minerve per unit: €1.50 to take away, €2 on site. Small Minerves in a bag: €5.50.
Les pâtés nîmois, 9 rue de la Madeleine. Minerves in a bag: €5.