Continuing our bread theme in support of the Real Bread campaign, we thought we should take a closer look at the bread we supply. Thankfully, our producers care as much about real bread as we do. Today, we’re getting inside the production of Poilane breads. If you haven’t yet had the chance to try their rich sourdough creations, click here to explore our range.

Traditional Bread, Made by Hand

Poilane bread is special in that it is an old fashioned style bread. They bake it in an oak-fired brick oven which gives it a beautiful thick crust. Most importantly though, what goes into this fantastic bread?

The Ingredients….

Poilane use 7 basic ingredients to make their different varieties of bread. Each have been carefully selected to respect tradition and to ensure Poilane’s unique flavour:

1)       Wheat Flour: From near-organic farming, their wheat is exclusively stone ground.

2)       Leaven: This is the crux of the method used to make Poilane breads. The leaven comes from a starter reserved from the previous batch.

3)       Rye Flour: Cultivated in the central region of France, their rye flour is 100% wholemeal.

4)       Water: Nothing special, just tap water which they analyse once a year.

5)       Sea Sat: From the Atlantic coast.

6)       Raisins: Dried in the beautiful Greek sun.

7)       Walnuts: Sourced from Perigord in France.

The Method….

Poilane bread is leavened bread, created using an ancient fermenting technique, discovered about five or six thousand years ago. Legend has it, the lady who discovered it had forgotten to bake her dough so she cooked it some time later and found to her delight a lighter, tastier result! So sometimes forgetfulness is a good thing!

A portion of the previous batch of dough is preserved to “start” the next batch – a leaven. Mixed with flour, water, sea salt and plenty of tender loving care, this natural starter means that no yeast is needed. This gives Poilane breads a greater resistance to mould without the need for nasty additives.

Baking

After weighing, shaping and making sure everything is perfect (by hand!), each Poilane baker gently pops their loaves in a wood-heated brick oven. They even make sure to use only recycled wood.

Try it for yourself!

So, now you know exactly how it was made, try some of Poilane’s fantastic bread for yourself. Choose from the basic  sourdough loaves through to moreish walnut bread and super healthy rye loaves. Click here to explore the full range.

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