Poilâne: The Secrets of the World-Famous Bread Bakery, Hardcover

To food lovers the world over, a trip to Paris is not complete without a visit to Poil ne. Ina Garten raves about the bread's "extraordinary quality." Martha Stewart says the P in Poil ne stands for "perfect." For the first time, Poil ne provides detailed instructions so bakers can reproduce its unique "hug-sized" sourdough loaves at home, as well as the bakery's other much-loved breads and pastries. It tells the story of how Apollonia Poil ne, the third-generation baker and owner, took over the global business at age eighteen and steered it into the future as a Harvard University freshman after her parents were killed in a helicopter crash.
Beyond bread, Apollonia includes recipes for pastries such as the bakery's exquisite but unfussy tarts and butter cookies. In recipes that use bread as an ingredient, she shows how to make the most from a loaf, from crust to crumb. In still other dishes, she explores the world of grains: rice, corn, barley, oats, and millet. From sunup to sundown, Poil ne traces the hours in a baker's day, blending narrative, recipes, and Apollonia's philosophy of bread.

APOLLONIA POILANE, the 35-year-old CEO of Poilâne, has been baking since she was a teenage apprentice. Besides supplying the Elysée Palace and 2,000 Parisian restaurants and retailers with bread, Poilâne ships to 40 countries daily. She lives in Paris, France.