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If a breadmaking bread-making expert of this stature said that poolish was of Polish origin, then few people saw the reason to question this assertion. Well, alright, but who was this supposedly Polish baron with a rather non-Polish-sounding name, credited with bringing from Austria to France the pre-ferment which gave rise to French baguettes?

Zang was without a doubt an affluent and influential man, but he could only be described as a baron in the figurative sense. He never bore any actual titles of nobility, whether by birth or by grant. Was he proud of his contribution to the development of French breadmakingbread-making? Not particularly. In fact, he actively tried to hide this episode of his professional life, spurred on by his business and political rivals dismissing him as a simple baker. Contrary to his efforts, however, his name had become a strong enough brand on the French bread market that subsequent owners of the bakery at 92, rue de Richelieu, consistently refused to remove it from the shop sign, even when offered financial compensation. Zang's name was still prominently displayed on the bakery's façade long after his death in 1888.

All the while, Viennese bread in France kept evolving. By the early 20th century, the word "''viennoiserie''" (literally, "Viennese stuff") had been coined in French in the sense of "luxury Viennese-type breads". But at the same time, these "Viennese" breads were becoming increasingly more French than Austrian. Supposedly Viennese croissants were now made with French puff pastry rather than traditional yeast dough. The latter did survive, however, in a new kind of bread rolls which only became common in the 1920s. These rolls were long and thin, white and sweetish (which made them attractive to consumers), but were very quick to go stale, so you had to buy them 2–3 times a day (which made them attractive to bakery owners). Due to their distinctive baton-like shape, they became knowns known as "baguettes", or "little sticks". And this is how French baking as we know it today came to be. By that time, poolish had been in common use in France, especially for the production of baguettes. But this was already long after Zang's death and even longer after he had divested himself of his Parisian bakery. Which means it probably isn't him who should get the credit for introducing poolish to France.

}}</ref> What Dr. Baerman may have been unawre unaware of is that the word "''żurek''" also has a special meaning in Polish baking terminology, where it refers to a loose sourdough starter. But this is a kind of starter Polish bakers use for making ''chleb'' (pronounced ''h'lep''), a sourdough rye bread, rather than for white yeast rolls. Mixed rye-wheat ''chleb'' is also common in Poland, but even then you would prepare a rye sourdough starter and a wheat yeast pre-ferment separately.<ref>{{Cyt