Le Levain is the French word for a starter-culture used in food fermentation - it is particularly used in the context of breadmaking. Traditionally a "levain" refers to the piece of naturally fermented dough that is kept from day-to-day in order to provide the fermentation for the next days' breadmaking.
When I first began baking bread it was this Natural Fermentation that fascinated me. I went on to learn breadmaking in France and I read about bread history and studied breadmaking theory in French. I worked in three small artisan bakeries in France which produce naturally fermented breads baked in a wood-fired masonry oven. To me breadmaking and the French language are inseperable. There is an extraordinarily rich History of Bread in France.
Naturally-fermented bread represents the greatest challenge within baking and produces a bread that is very personal to each baker. How to look after your "levain", how to read your "levain" and how to make bread from it - this is the Art of Baking.
So my breadmaking is based on traditional French methods. I use a natural fermentation method that was standard in 18th century France but that only a few bakers use today.
More and more people are aware of sourdough (naturally-fermented) bread but don't fully understand what it means. It is not a certain kind of bread but a method of fermenting bread. It can be used to make bread from any cereal (wheat, rye, barley etc.). It produces a bread with excellent Health/Nutritional Properties and excellent keeping qualities.
All the flours used are organic. All the wheat that is used comes from France and is grown organically. The flour is produced using traditional stone mills even for the whiter flours - it is extremely rare to find stoneground white flour, even in France. The French wheat has very moderate gluten levels and the gluten is much softer than in most commercial wheats. The natural fermentation breaks down the gluten making it then easier for our bodies to digest.
Certain current opinions take a negative view towards bread nutrition. I am very critical of much of the "expert" nutritional advice that is currently presented in the media. They do not differenciate between various categories of bread in terms of nutrition. Bread has very different Health/Nutritional Properties depending on it’s ingredients and how it is produced. Well made bread using quality ingredients is an extremely balanced source of nutrition and is very different from the poor quality bread that is so prevalent today.
We use natural and high-quality Ingredients. LeLevain breads are truly Handmade.
Certain ingredients used are Fairly/Ethically Traded - see Ingredients
The confectionary we produce is predominantly of Irish/English origin. Ireland had a very good home-baking tradition and I want to celebrate that. I remember my mother and grandmother's baking - queen cakes, madeira cakes, victoria sponges, apple tarts. When I started to study their recipes I realised the high quality of the ingredients they used and the richness of the recipes.Confectionary products (Mediterranean style) are available that use olive oil. Olive oil is extremely low in saturated fats and contains no trans fats – this is of interest to consumers who are concerned with cholesterol levels.