How I Learned to Bake French Bread in the South of France
Here I am inquiring about the "levain."
About Pain au Levain: Mixing and Shaping the Dough
Pain au levain is traditional sourdough bread. The baker begins by making “le chef,” a mixture of wheat and water, which he covers and leaves to sit at 20-25 degrees centigrade for three days until it triples in volume.
Next, he prepares the “levain” by combining the chef with flour and water and letting it sit at 20-25 degrees centigrade for another 12-14 hours.
Finally, he can prepare the bread for baking. He does this by combining the levain, the wheat, the water, and the sea salt. He shapes the dough, sets it on floured linen cloth (couche) he has pleated by hand to keep the baguettes’ shape as it rests, and sets the bread in a cool room.
The shaping of the baguettes begins at 3:00 each morning and by 5:00 he sets to work firing up the wood-burning oven. I arrive in time for the second baking at 7:00 am. Mr. Honorat tells me that in dry weather he can make a hot oven, and it keeps heat to bake throughout the day. But the day I visit is cold and rainy so he has to restart the fire when I arrive. The wood he uses is pine from Bordeaux. Other neighboring wood-fired bakeries use it too. A large pot-shaped piece of metal sits in the center of the oven and remains there until the baking begins. I’m told this is to assure that the floor of the oven heats evenly.
The bakery also makes and sells other products like croissants. Mr Honorat gave my husband and me some fresh and out-of-the-oven to fortify us during our visit. But baguettes are their major product. The day before our visit he baked 980 baguettes plus a smaller number of ficelles, compagnes, and assorted other breads. Sundays are his big days and he makes 50 liters more bread then. It is a matter of interest that there is such local variation on almost everything, even how one measures output. He explains that in Robion, bakers measure their output in liters and in the next village by kilograms of flour. To give you an idea of how much that is, the formula for the baguettes is 100 kilograms of flour to 60 liters of water.
Photo by: Sheral Schowe
A beautiful recounting of what anyone who has lived in France remembers best — those incredible baguettes, those pains au chocolat, those croissants! Great photos too, I’m looking forward to the next installment on wine….
Love that photo of the oven!
What a fabulous trip. Thanks for sharing your experience and the great links. I’m somewhat intimidated by the baguette recipe, but will try Jim Lahey’s bread recipe. I’m looking forward to your report from wine country.
Start with that and you’ll find it’s so easy you’ll be addicted, Next thing you know you’ll be making brioche and fougasse. XOXO
Magnifique!
The effort of baking my own bread? Sure. I do that on a fairly regular basis, and new recipes are usually fun.
Converting the barbaric metric and Centigrade into civilized measurements? Not so much. The taint would linger.
I can smell and taste them now. And for that reason you have earned my undying hatred.
YUM!
I can almost smell the air and taste the wine!
What a great article.
I lived in San Francisco the first 35 years of my life, we would party on weekends and always end up at the early morning bake shops. This brought back some great memories.
More like this please.
1) Can’t eat too much bread anymore. Have to watch the carbs.
2) Great bread or not, this is France we are talking about. A place that hates America, hates Israel, loves failed Marxism, loves the Jihadists (who are taking over slowly but surely), and where Jews cannot walk the street safely. Why on earth would you admire or emulate ANYTHING from that sorry place?
there’s more hate from your side and from the bigots
Bulgaria anyone?
The Freanch will never forgive Americans for D-Day. Just like they never forgave the Pied-Noirs (French citizens born in North-AZfrica most of them of Italian or Spanish ascent) who gave their life at Cassino while the Gallics wer laughuing their a..s in their prisoners camps while others were doing what should have been their job.
Eric;
You are speaking of Paris and the official French government. I disliked DeGalle as much as anyone and never traveled to France while he was alive. However, I have spent many wonderful weekends and nights there whilst stationed in Stuttgart. Alsace is grand, but the south of France is simply wonderful. The food, the wine and the people make it what it is and not even the French government have ruined that.
we can say the same for your governments
I have visited Paris twice and Normandy once. I get the feeling that Parisians just don’t like people in general, but everywhere we went in Normandy last year, the locals were wonderful. Perhaps it’s because they are still mindful of what we did during the D-Day landings, or maybe they’re just nice in general.
So I wouldn’t judge an entire country by what a handful of their elites do, just like I hope we are not judged by what goes on in certain “centers of power” along the East Coast.
this has nothing to do with Dday,the Normans aren’t disturbed by 80 millions yearly visitors like the Parisians are, who ask 80 million times the same questions, who make the same reflexions and complains…
But not all the Parisians are rude
As arrogance and massacring Jews go, they’re nothing compared to the Roman Empire at its height. So why are you using the latter’s letters when you write?
Eric don’t put French rural areas in the same bag with Paris and big cities. These are Muslim-free and despite Paris and Commies best efforts usually not anti-american. And don’t forget those volunteer groups who flower american graces or those people who, from their own pockets (this could seem no big deal in America but in countries with high taxes and extended welfare donations are not usual so it was a big deal), funded a monument at Omaha Beach and fought teeth and nails when the govenrment tried to have it demolished.
Nice article, nicely done, and thanks for the links.
Why is that area called “The south of France,” and not “southern France”?
because, there’s no economical and political differences between the north and the south like there are in Italy, whereas the south is called “Mezzogiorno”
That’s the opposite of what I’d expect, then. After all, we call the US South “The South” because there ARE economical and political differences.
Tuesday 10 July 2012
US drought threatens price of food as hot weather fries corn. Parched fields drives up price of corn, with higher prices likely to be passed on in the cost of hamburgers, steak and bread.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jul/11/us-drought-threatens-food
Alas, several members of our family were diagnosed with Celiac Disease/Gluten Sensitivity a few years ago, so no wheat-based breads for us.
We do walk by bakeries and inhale deeply, though – my husband calls it “Food Porn”….
This all looks so delicious!