A New Pain Poilane: This One's Peppery

All good bread can sustain and comfort us, but for so many reasons, Poilane bread can make us dream.  There is something romantic about the bread, the way it is made (it is shaped by hand and baked in woodburning stone ovens), the way it looks (dark, rough, imperfect but elegant), the way it feels in our hands (substantial and reassuring) and the story behind it (the story of Lionel Poilane, who didn't want to become a baker like his father, but who did and who, in the process, became a world-famous champion of wholesome, authentic artisanal bread). 

Today, Maison Poilane is headed by Lionel Poilane's daughter, Appollonia

 

who, along with Michelin-three-star chef, Olivier Roellinger, known for his extraordinary talent with spices, created a new bread, Pain Poivre, a loaf that's a little rustic, a little refined and shot through with just enough of Chef Roellinger's special pepper mix to make it the perfect accompaniment to fish, eggs, grilled vegetables and anything that would be happy to have a pinch of pick-me-up. 

The bread was introduced Tuesday night to chefs and restaurateurs - for now, the bread is only being made to be served in restaurants - in one of the city's most romantic settings, the Palais Royale.  And, just to add more drama to the equisite backdrop, the Palais' arcades were lit by candelabras crafted from bread.

The serving tables were set up in front of the garden gates

and, along with Champagne, guests nibbled Pain Poivre with soft boiled eggs (the egg holders were rounds of bread that had been baked with egg-sized holes in the center, and the bread was cut into fingers, toasted and spread with butter); mackerel rillettes (a recipe from Jane Roellinger); club sandwiches with Culatello jam, arugula, avocado, grilled eggplant, Parmesan and olive oil; goat cheese; and, because no party would be a party without dessert, chocolate ganache spread over still-warm slices of toast.

Each guest left with some bread

and, I'm sure, some ideas of what they were going to do with it the next day.  I had bread and chocolate in my mind, but the following morning, I had bread and Jean-Yves Bordier's butter in my tummy - and so did Michael and The Kid.  I'd meant to save a slice, but ...

Comments

[RuthWells]

Oh, yum. I think I'll be baking bread this weekend.

[Rona]

This is wonderful... a new pain Poilane to look forward to! Love the idea of pepper. Do you know which restaurants will be serving it and will it ever be available at the bakery?
It must have been quite an evening. Delicious menu, great company, a beautiful setting AND a goodie bag.
Love the candelabras too.

[Catherine Iino]

Can you describe the composition of the bread in any more detail? Do you have an idea of what kinds of pepper were in it? What kinds of grain? I can't get to Paris any time soon, but I'm a good home baker, and I'd love to fool around with the idea. I've been baking the Pain au Levain, based on Patricia Wells's instructions for Pain Poilane, for about 20 years. So I know I won't be able to reproduce the original, but it would be fun to try!

[Rosa]

A new bread from Poilâne really is a big event! How lucky you were to be there!

[Casey]

Deb speaks for me: a perfect why-I-love-Paris post. The last time I was in Paris I went directly from checking in at my hotel to Rue du Cherche-Midi and a late afternoon slice of strawberry tart at the tiny cafe next door to Poilane. Bliss.

[deb]

I am pretty sure that this entry embodies everything I love about Paris--that a party is thrown to celebrate a top-notch, rustic creation from a famed baker. I can't wait to try it next time we are there. (P.S. I hope is it soon!)