Rolling in dough

APOLLONIA Poilane was not your average university student. She attended classes, did her homework and had a social life, but she also ran a company half-way around the world in Paris from her Harvard dorm room. The company - Boulangerie Poilane - was no small start-up either by the then 18-year-old. It was a well-established Parisian bread empire that had been started by her grandfather, Pierre Poilane, in 1932 and passed down to her father, Lionel Poilane.

In 2002, both Mr Poilane and his wife, Irena, were killed in a tragic helicopter accident leaving Ms Poilane and her then 16-year-old sister, Athena. Ms Poilane, who had always known that she would eventually take over the business, put the plans she had for a gap year on hold and took over the reins. When she left for Harvard to study Economics 10 months later, Ms Poilane was determined to run the company from her dorm.

"I left for college with an idea of how I was going to handle the business and after that, it was all about adapting. In the first semester, it was a little hard figuring out a way to go about my day's work but after that I had a routine," she says.

This routine was a call before bed to her team in Paris for a quick update on how production was the night before and a second call the morning after to find out what business needed to be done for the day. She would then go to class, attend to business, do her homework and repeat the routine. Ms Poilane did this for four years while spending all her school holidays back in Paris working at the shop. Just reading Ms Poilane's schedule alone can make one exhausted but the now 29-year-old says that juggling school, work and her social life was not as hard as it sounds.

She brushes it off saying: "There were other kids who were athletes and members of various student groups. So I guess for me my extra-curricular activity was a company! It wasn't tough and it wasn't exhausting. I think like anything it's a responsibility. As long as I did my homework and reading on a regular basis, I was fine."

She also emphasises the help and support that she received from family and friends during the four years. However, Ms Poilane does admit that during her senior year, there were some projects for the Poilane business that she had to postpone till she had graduated and returned to Paris. "A lot of what helped was the friends of my parents who were there to support me and answer any and all questions that I had. My sister and I are very close and she grew up in the shop too. She was 16 at the time but she was always there for me," she says.

Even now, Ms Poilane and her sister are a team - running Boulangerie Poilane and working mostly on business strategy together. With the two in charge, the company has seen both product and business grow. The number of outlets has increased from three to five, with one new boulangerie in Paris and London each. Ms Poilane also opened three cafes called Cuisine de Bar attached to the bakeries which serve tartines - or open-faced sandwiches - using Poilane's signature sourdough bread.

In fact, the tartines - made just as they are in Paris and London - are available at the Hyatt's afternoon tea buffet till next Sunday. With regard to product development, Ms Poilane says that along with discovering new flavours, she is always looking for new ways to work with old ingredients. "We are always innovating. I think you can do that with bread a lot even if it's going back in history and reinventing traditions," says Ms Poilane.

Bread fans in Singapore will be pleased to know that Ms Poilane says she would like to bring some of her other products from Paris such as black pepper loaf to Singapore. But despite the constant innovation and business development, Ms Poilane says that there are some traditions that she intends to uphold. She refuses to compromise on the quality of the bread and the way it was made, using the same techniques that were adopted by her father and grandfather.

"We bake the bread by using a piece of sourdough from the previous batch as a starter for the next. I think that link between each batch of bread is something that's important to me because I'm the third generation in this business. It really reflects continuity," she says.

Poilane sourdough loaves - known as miche - are available at a pop-up store in the Hyatt lobby till April 13, Sunday. They're flown in every two days from Boulangerie Poilane in Paris and cost $28 for a whole loaf, $18 for half a loaf and $8 for a quarter loaf. The tartines are available at the Hyatt's afternoon tea buffet which costs $43 on weekdays and $53 on weekends.

hychew@sph.com.sg

Mackerel Tartine

Ingredients

Poilane sourdough bread

Smoked mackerel

Creme Fraiche

Lemon Juice

Paprika Powder

Chives

Method

1. Toast the bread slice on both sides

2. Mix the smoked mackerel, creme fraiche, lemon juice and paprika powder into a paste

3. Spread on sourdough slice

4. Garnish on top with beetroot and horseradish

relish

5. Finally, add chopped chives

Smoked Salmon Tartine

Ingredients

Poilane sourdough bread

Smoked salmon

Cream cheese

Chives

Lemon

Method

1. Toast the bread slice on both sides

2. Spread the cream cheese on to the slice of bread

3. Add the slices of smoked salmon

4. Season with chives

5. Serve with a wedge of lemon

Avocado Tartine (Australian Inspired)

Ingredients

Poilane sourdough bread

Avocado

Vegemite

Chili flakes

Olive oil

Method

1. Toast the bread slice on both sides

2. Spread a small amount of Vegemite

3. Spread the slice with roughly cut avocados

4. Season with chili flakes and olive oil