Re: Poilâne walnut loaves

On 2025-02-09 12:41 p.m., Carol wrote:
> 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?

It's just the French for starter. French "sourdough" is called
"pain au levain".