Linen and wicker

Each proofing basket is expertly sprinkled with a pinch of flour by our bakers just before the dough is proofed in the final stage of fermentation. This light flouring is done with a precise hand and ensures that the dough will not stick to the bottom of the basket when the time comes to flip it onto the long-handed wooden peel that each baker uses to slide loaves into one of our wood-fired ovens.

Whether you plan on using your wicker bread basket to make or serve bread, we recommend sprinkling its linen lining with natural, nonpolluting, nonallergenic baking soda. Wet the bristles of a brush under running water and use it to gently brush the linen lining. Let your basket dry before using it for the first time.

Wicker is made from a type of willow that is cultivated and harvested every year. More than two hundred different varieties of willow can be found in France—they thrive on land near rivers or streams—but only about ten varieties are used to weave baskets.

Europe grows and produces 80% of the world’s linen. For its fibers to be qualitative, linen requires a certain savoir faire in terms of selection, cultivation and transformation, as well as specific meteorological conditions like those found in western Europe: a naturally humid oceanic climate, relatively little variation in temperature and rich soil. Linen is therefore a local product; it would be difficult to grow and produce it elsewhere.