Some good bread

Some good bread

At Paris a dream and Bordeaux a dream we have a passion for good bread.

But what is good bread?

When we read the book by Adriano Farano, owner of Pane Vivo bakeries, we realized that today it’s possible to eat bread that feels good.

We’ve included a visit to a bakery laboratory as part of our gourmet tour, to show just how hard a baker works. 24 hours for a baguette, 3 days for a croissant with PDO butter. Our meeting with Mr Desfoux, owner of urbanbakeryfamily, was decisive.

We are extremely grateful to him and his wife for allowing us to showcase their expertise through these visits. Their bread is additive-free, organic, and the cereals are selected directly from the farmer. Did you know that some bakeries add up to 10 additives to obtain a baguette in just a few hours, to speed up rising or improve elasticity?

Then we visited Alexis Borychowski from Le Temps et le Pain bakery. Alexis explained to us the influence of time in making good bread: for the development of aromas in particular, and for slow fermentation. We realized that you have to be passionate to make good bread.

They offer magnificent breads made with organic flours from ancient wheats such as Barbu du Roussillon and Rouge de Bordeaux.

Beautiful crust, airy bread, incredible aroma, delicious taste. But why old-growth wheats? Is it a new marketing tool?

Ancient wheat

Courageous farmers have revived old varieties of wheat, used for thousands of years. Courageous because these wheats are taller, more fragile to storms, and have lower productivity, but are clearly better for your health.

The gluten it contains is better digested, the minerals are more numerous, and the aromas are more varied.

West of Bordeaux, in Eysines, we met Paul and Elaine (pronounced Elaïni because she’s Brazilian) from the Padoca bakery (small bakery, in Sao Paulo Brazilian).

Both bakers, they have taken the initiative a step further by installing a mill in their bakery, producing their own organic flour from ancient wheats from Charente-Maritime: Blé de population, Khorasan, Engrain, and Rouge de Bordeaux.

This fresh flour contains even more minerals. The germ is retained, amplifying the nutritional contribution. Slow fermentation like the bakers mentioned above, using sourdough.

What’s more, they’ve invested in a wood-fired oven that heats from 400° to 100°C: great baking homogeneity, and working comfort for the bakers (less noise than an electric oven).

These bakers start their day at 4am. They’re motivated by a single goal: to produce beautiful, healthy bread.