MEET MADAME BRÈDES

EAST COAST

Madame Brèdes embraces to perfection her role as guardian of Reunion cuisine. She cooks with ‘brèdes’, leafy green vegetables that she carefully selects and sorts to pass on a rich culinary heritage packed with flavour and emotion. Like an ode to history, her approach is all about sharing, inviting those who cross her path to take a voyage through the senses. Her family history, her unwavering passion and her tremendous commitment have made Madame Brèdes an iconic figure who combines tradition and innovation in Reunion-style dishes.

Madame Brèdes, the passionate keeper of Reunion’s culinary specialities

Maguy enthusiastically grows her iconic leafy green crops in the Espérance hills, a plentiful market gardening region. Madame Brèdes specialises in selecting various types of ‘brèdes’: chayote, black nightshade, pumpkin and many more. Each of these greens has its own particularity and specific properties. But first and foremost, Madame Brèdes embodies a whole family story. The story of a mother who passed on to her children and grandchildren an unconditional love for ‘brèdes’, the leafy greens that are an integral part of Reunion cuisine. As far as Madame Brèdes is concerned, these greens are much more than mere vegetables, they symbolise sharing and togetherness. From her earliest childhood, she remembers them being served at every family meal, bringing that authentic flavour to the typical dishes of Reunion Island. She has images engraved in her memory of the whole family savouring moments of sincerity, of happiness at its purest. Nowadays, she reveals to all the secrets of growing and cooking her leafy greens, a way of spreading the word of this ancestral expertise.

Traditional distribution channels…

Madame Brèdes has always offered her precious greens to curious visitors at the island’s markets. For Maguy, it is essential to share her knowledge with other people. She thinks of herself as the ambassador of these leafy greens, a culinary treasure with health benefits that she wants everybody to know about. Warmth, friendliness and people’s smiles bring her true joy. Every Friday and every Sunday, she shares her expertise, explaining to delighted tourists how to sort and cook ‘brèdes’ the Reunion way. More and more of the island’s restaurant owners also call upon her services, because they know they’ll get healthy local produce of excellent quality and save time on the preparation of meals.

… a quest for modernity

Madame Brèdes has become much more than a farmer. She is the head of a company with a vision. With the help of her children, Madame Brèdes has successfully taken this small family business into a new, modern dimension. Surfing on the wave of healthy, green trends, with the help of the marketing tools that the family has implemented, ‘brèdes’ have renewed with their former glory, appealing not only to the locals but also to tourists eager to discover the culinary delights of Reunion Island. Madame Brèdes has an entrepreneurial spirit and looks to the future with optimism. She firmly intends to pursue this fabulous family venture by further developing the brand and continuing to share her passion for leaf vegetables as widely as possible. To her, these leafy greens are more than a culinary legacy. They represent a whole culture and an identity that she enjoys celebrating day after day.