5,079
edits
Changes
So it wasn't an Austrian princess who helped introduce poolish to France when she arrived there in 1770; it was a nobleman who came to France from Austria 70 years later! But the crucial bit that both sources agree on is that poolish is a Polish invention. That's hardly surprising, as Poland is famous for its bread. It's more famous for its rye sourdough loaves than for yeast-raised wheat baguettes, though, but we wouldn't want to question this great Polish achievement and yet another source of Polish national pride, would we?
Of course we would! And so, by tracing the ultimate source of the information that eventually found its way to Bakerpedia and many other texts (print and online), we can determine that it relies on the authority of Raymond Calvel, the professor of baking at the National Higher School of Milling and Cereal Industries ({{small|ENSMIC}}) in Pariswho wrote the book on baking bread. This is how he described what the history of poolish in his book, ''Le goût du pain'' (''The Taste of Bread''), says about where the poolish method comes from:
<nomobile>[[File:Raymond Calvel.jpg|thumb|Raymond Calvel (1913–2005), profesor piekarstwaprofessor of baking]]</nomobile>
{{ Cytat
| This method of breadmaking was first developed in Poland during the 1840s, from whence its name. It was then used in Vienna by Viennese bakers, and it was during this same period that is became known in France. The bread produced by this method became known as Vienna bread, named for those Austrian bakers who began to make it in Paris after having come from Vienna. The poolish method seems to have become the only breadmaking method used in France until the 1920s for production of breads leavened solely with yeast. <br>{{...}}<br>The Vienna bread made during that period was the result of a production method introduced into France by an Austrian, Baron Zang. With the assistance of a group of Viennese bakers, the Baron began to produce this type of bread in Paris in 1840, in a bakery that still exists today on the Rue de Richelieu. This bread corresponded to our definition of “traditional” bread, since it was made from a mixture of flour, water, yeast and salt, occasionally enriched with the addition of a little malt extract. It was leavened with a poolish, and was thus a baker's yeast leavened product. During the whole of the 1840s–1920s, this type of bread experienced well-deserved commercial success in the larger French cities, especially Paris. As may be seen still today on the advertising signs of old bakeries, the consumer had the choice between “French bread” made from levain [i.e., sourdough starter], and Vienna-style bread, made from baker's yeast.
}} }}
<mobileonly>[[File:Raymond Calvel.jpg|thumb|Raymond Calvel (1913–2005), profesor piekarstwaprofessor of baking]]</mobileonly>Jeśli tak wybitny znawca twierdził, że ''If a breadmaking expert of this stature said that poolish'' to wynalazek polskiego pochodzeniawas of Polish origin, the hardly anyone saw the reason to mało kto widział powódquestion this assertion. Well, żeby to kwestionować. No dobrzealright, but who was this supposedly Polish baron with a kim właściwie był ów baron o niezbyt przecież polsko brzmiącym nazwiskurather non-Polish-sounding name, któremu Francja zawdzięcza swoje bagietki wyrabiane na zaczynie, który rzekomo właśnie on sprowadził z Polski przez Austrię nad Sekwanęcredited with bringing from Austria to France the pre-ferment which gave rise to French baguettes?
== The Baker in Spite of Himself ==