The World Famous POILÂNE® SOURDOUGH LOAF

Cut a slice and start with the crust. Thick and well baked, it brings the toasted flavour that makes the softer crumb underneath so satisfying. The interior is dense and beige, with a substantial bite and the gentle acidity of natural sourdough. A little butter melting into a warm slice is enough to show you why this bread has a place at the centre of the table.

The dough begins with stone-ground wheat flour, natural leaven, water and Guérande salt. Each miche is shaped by hand and baked on a stone hearth in a wood-fired oven. That combination gives you a loaf with character in both crust and crumb, made without additives or preservatives.

Its firm texture is particularly welcome when there is something delicious to carry: soft cheese, a spoonful of pâté, the juices from a ripe tomato. Toasting brings another pleasure. Try browning just one side of a slice so you get a crisp surface and a softer underside together. This is bread you can build a lunch around, then look forward to again at breakfast.

• Butter, jam and the first coffee: Toast a generous slice and spread it while warm with salted butter. Add your favourite jam or a spoonful of honey, leaving a corner bare to enjoy the bread itself. It is a breakfast that rewards sitting down for an extra few minutes.
• A cheese board with substance: Cut thinner slices alongside our cheese selection. The sourdough tang is lovely with creamy cheeses, while the firm crumb also carries a generous piece of something aged. Add a pear, a few walnuts and time for another glass.
• Tomorrow’s French toast: Let remaining slices become pain perdu. Dip them in an egg-and-milk mixture, then cook in butter until golden on both sides. Serve with softly cooked apples for brunch, or take a savoury turn with mushrooms and grated cheese. Good bread gives you plenty of reasons to keep cooking.

Just before a whole miche goes into the oven, the baker traces a “P” into the dough. It stands for Poilâne, of course, and also for pain, the French word for bread. It is a small, rather lovely signature on something made to be sliced and shared.

The family’s Paris bakery opened on rue du Cherche-Midi in 1932. Pierre, Lionel and Apollonia followed one another in the craft, with another inheritance passing from batch to batch: a little dough kept back to begin the next fermentation. The finished loaf carries that continuity to the table. Cut a slice for someone, put the butter within reach, and the story becomes a very practical sort of hospitality.

Keep at room temperature, away from heat and moisture, wrapped in a clean cloth or paper bag. Avoid plastic, which softens the crust. For longer storage, freeze in slices and thaw only what you need.