“The seeds for this book were planted by my father and mother in my sister and me. They are seeds of passion, determination, and love for our crafts. My sister, Athena, helped me germinate those seeds, and with the birth of her son, we now have another generation with whom to share our family story.” –Apollonia Poilâne

“Apollonia is bread royalty. This is the book that all of us who care about bread—readers, bakers, bread buyers, bread eaters and bread appreciators—want to read.”—Dorie Greenspan

“Poilâne . . . the P stands for Poilâne, but it could also stand for perfect.” –Martha Stewart

Each recipe in this book begins the same way as the story of Poilâne®, that it to say, with sourdough starter.

Sourdough refers to both a type of bread and a leaven used to produce fermentation in lieu of commercial yeast. A sourdough starter is obtained by mixing flour with lukewarm water. As the “good” bacteria and wild yeasts living on the flour and in the bakehouse multiply, the mixture begins to ferment, allowing the dough to rise and resulting in a bread with complex, rich, lightly tangy flavor.