Lionel Poilâne
Lionel Poilâne (?? 1945 – October 31, 2002) was a French boulanger (artisan baker) and entrepreneur whose commitment to crafting quality bread earned him prestige throughout the world. His father Pierre Poilâne started a baking business in 1932, creating bread using stone-ground flour, natural fermentation and a wood-fired oven. Lionel took over the bakery in 1970, continuing the traditional methods. Poilâne is most famous for a round, two-kilogram sourdough country bread referred to as a miche or pain Poilâne. This bread is often referred to as wholewheat but in fact is not: the flour used is a very good quality, tasty, and nutritious stoneground product but it is doubtful whether the superb texture and versatility of Poilâne bread could be achieved in a high fiber loaf. Even so, its superior nutritional properties are beyond doubt.
In addition to miches, the Poilâne bakery offers rye bread, raisin bread, nut bread, Punitions (shortbread cookies), and an assortment of pastries to its clients. Poilâne is perhaps the most famous name in the baking industry today.
Poilâne mastered his single product and trained his apprentices in the physical baking process, which he believed to be the most important aspect of his vision. He believed as much of the work as possible should be done by hand, by one person taking responsibility for their loaves from start to finish. Lionel Poilâne laid the basis of a concept he called "retro-innovation"; combining the best of traditional elements together with the best of modern developments. The only deviation from his father's original formula was machine kneading, saving hours of work for his bakers.
Pain Poilâne is produced in the Latin Quarter of Paris where it is sold at the original boulangerie on rue du Cherche-Midi. A second
Paris bakery on boulevard de Grenelle is located in the
On October 31, 2002, Lionel Poilâne was killed when the helicopter he was piloting crashed into the Bay of Cancale off the coast of Brittany. The passengers, Poilâne's wife Iréna and their dog, also died in the crash. Poilâne was survived by his daughter Apollonia who now runs the enterprise. She is a graduate of Harvard University.[1][2]
Lionel's brother Max Poilâne went his own way and opened his own bakery. There are 3 Max Poilâne bakery locations in Paris. Bread lovers debate on which baker makes the better bread, although Lionel's bread is more famous outside of Paris.
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