Poilâne paris menu

Where to buy poilâne bread

His trademark round loaves where not exactly fashionable at the time, and even less so after the war when people preferred the white baguettes to push back the memories of the coarse dark flour that they were forced to use during leaner times. Pierre kept producing his round loaves with conviction. They might not have been as stylish as the elongated baguette but they lasted longer and could be sliced for different uses.

There is something earthy and rustic about the round loaf. It smells heavenly when fresh, the texture is weapon-hard on the outside and tender and yielding inside. Unopened it keeps for about 5 days or so, and left overs can be toasted to stretch it even further. It goes as well with cheese and cold cuts as with butter and jam. First it was the bars around the bakery that started serving slices of his bread to go with the cheese.

The bars, seeing how customers would ask about the source of the loaves, smelled an opportunity and not only served but also started to resell the miches. Then came the restaurants and more and more orders.

Poilâne bread recipe

Pierre had two sons, Max and Lionel. The legacy lived on through both. They learned the trade alongside their father from the time they were small children. But every legend is made of both the sweet and the sour. Lionel built on the original model and dug deeper into the philosophy and science of bread. He amassed an impressive collection of reference works and research and wrote several books on the subject.

He expanded internationally and rubbed shoulders with Dali, Man Ray and the jet-setters of the time.