Re: Poilâne walnut loaves

Graham wrote:

> There has been some controversy in the bread world regarding
> Poilâne's sourdough miches. Videos taken in the basement of the
> Rue du Cherche Midi clearly show the bakers adding commercial yeast
> to the dough.
> In Apollonia Poilâne's book, she adds 4g of dried yeast to the mix
> in the following recipe for the Poilâne miche:
> 
> 410g levain (French-style, stiff levain, ~60% hydration)
> 550g AP flour
> 450 WW flour
> 650g water
> 20g salt.
> 
> She also uses this mix to make the justly famous walnut loaves.
> I have bought these small loaves on visits to the London branch and
> have tried to emulate them in the past. At the tail of the above miche
> recipe, she give the recipe. You add 240g of toasted walnuts to the
> miche dough and divide it into 6 pieces.
> I made a batch a couple of weeks ago and gave 3 of the loaves to
> friends who really liked them, even one who is gluten intolerant!
> Graham

Hi Graham!  I had to google that and it's still not clear but levain is
a type of fresh starter I gather?