A world's most famous bakery shares secrets in a new book

If there is such a thing as baking royalty, Apollonia Poilâne might be its queen.

The 35-year-old is a third-generation baker for the world famous Poilâne in Paris. It was founded in 1932 by Apollonia's grandfather Pierre and has inspired chefs, musicians, poets, and artists worldwide for nearly 90 years: Surrealist icon Salvador Dalí commissioning a bedroom suite made completely out of bread for a 1971 exhibition. While it started in Paris, it has a location in London and a pop-up in New York City until Nov. 3.

Now, Apollonia Poilâne is opening the company's oven doors wide with her first English-language cookbook, "Poilâne: The Secrets of the World-Famous Bread Bakery," a weighty collection of nearly 100 recipes.

This Oct. 9, 2019 photo shows round loaves stored on racks in the Poilâne bakery, in Paris. Apollonia Poilâne. Third generation baker Apollonia Poilâne has authored her first English-language cookbook, “Poilâne: The Secrets of the World-Famous Bread Bakery," with a weighty collection of nearly 100 recipes. (AP PhotoThibault Camus)

Speaking at the bakery's hub under a replica of the Dalí bread chandelier, the soft-spoken CEO is reluctant to discuss her celebrity clientele, which includes Oprah "I Love Bread" Winfrey, Robert De Niro, and Natalie Portman. But she quick to praise the women she calls her "guardian angels" — TV chef Ina Garten, cookbook author Dorie Greenspan, and the owner of Chez Panisse, Alice Waters, the latter of whom provides the book's foreword.

"They're ladies I look up to for what they have accomplished. They inspire me, and I refer to them as my guardian angels for their words of wisdom," says Poilâne.

Those words of wisdom have proven very important to Poilâne, who took over the family business at 18 after her father Lionel and mother Irene were killed in a helicopter crash in October 2002, leaving her and her younger sister Athena orphaned.

This Oct. 9, 2019 photo shows a worker preparing round loaves for baking in the bread oven in the Poilâne bakery, in Paris. Third generation baker Apollonia Poilâne has authored her first English-language cookbook, “Poilâne: The Secrets of the World-Famous Bread Bakery," with a weighty collection of nearly 100 recipes. (AP PhotoThibault Camus)

"I was incredibly fortunate to be surrounded by a fantastic team, let alone the friends of my parents who helped me also go through those times," says Poilâne.

The day after the tragedy, Apollonia headed straight to the bakery, says she sat at her father's empty desk and resolved to run Poilâne.

"There was no question for me of whether I was taking over the family business or not. I had been essentially groomed since I was a child, whether I realized it or not," says Poilâne, whose sister chose to study visual arts. "It essentially happened sooner than planned."

This Oct. 9, 2019 photo shows customers looking at pastries in the Poilane bakery, in Paris. Third generation baker Apollonia Poilâne has authored her first English-language cookbook, “Poilâne: The Secrets of the World-Famous Bread Bakery," with a weighty collection of nearly 100 recipes. (AP PhotoThibault Camus)

She was CEO for a company worth eight million euros ($8.9 million) with over 130 staff while also studying economics and business at Harvard University.

Now, with annual sales topping 12 million euros ($13.3 million) annually with around 160 people employed, demand for the company's signature Poilâne loaf has never been higher.

"A Poilâne wheat sourdough loaf stands out because of its size, because of its format, because of its flavors," explains the baker. "The whole sensory experience when you have this big hug of bread is extraordinary — and it keeps. So it's another thing that's very special because you don't need to waste bread."

This Oct. 9, 2019 photo shows customers looking at pastries in the Poilane bakery, in Paris. Third generation baker Apollonia Poilâne has authored her first English-language cookbook, “Poilâne: The Secrets of the World-Famous Bread Bakery," with a weighty collection of nearly 100 recipes. (AP PhotoThibault Camus)

Fans of the famous loaf can now tackle the "big hug of bread" at home, with Poilâne sharing the secrets of the company's sourdough in a recipe which stretches over three pages.

While home cooks may not be able to entirely replicate the conditions in which the loaves are baked (unless they have a wood-fired oven that can reach 500 degrees Fahrenheit), Poilâne is happy with the final product that the book's recipe produces, saying she was "able to duplicate the elusive balance of acidity and sweetness" of the bread which has influenced countless bakers including Acme Bread Company founder Steve Sullivan.

Sullivan calls the original Poilâne loaf "giant, rich and tangy" and "completely unlike anything I had ever tasted."

This photo released by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt shows the cover image for "Poilâne: The Secrets of the World-Famous Bread Bakery" by Apollonia Poilane. (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt via AP)

Another fan is Tartine's Chad Robertson.

"I love that really mild acidity that is very balanced that you get with the Poilâne bread," says Robertson, who is acknowledged as one of America's finest bakers. "That bread never sort of followed trends. It was its own category of everything. Something that's really just true and authentic and elemental at its core endures."

As well as containing recipes for French classics like croissants, pains au chocolat, brioche, and croque mademoiselle, "Poilâne: The Secrets of the World-Famous Bread Bakery" also offers suggestions on what to do with leftover bread and provides numerous variations on breakfast and lunchtime staples.

The recipes that Poilâne is most proud of are her gluten-free cornbread, developed over the course of 15 years (using a mixture of corn flour, oat milk, and flax seeds), and her late father's "bread sandwich," which consists of a piece of thin bread, buttered and toasted, sandwiched between two slices of bread.

"It is a wink to my father, who used to give this recipe partly jokingly," smiles Poilâne. "But I took it for its word as a bread of quality is fulfilling. So, the sandwich is about using bread as a filling."

It's one of a number of playful recipes in a book that celebrates the many and varied uses of bread and provides a blueprint for where the company might be heading next. As Poilâne states, "my family would appreciate that there are many more doors yet to open."

DORAL, Fla. (AP) — Revelers chanted “liberty” and draped Venezuelan flags over their shoulders in South Florida on Saturday to celebrate the American military attack that toppled Nicolás Maduro’s government — a stunning outcome they had longed for but left them wondering what comes next in their troubled homeland.

For some Venezuelan natives, the military action — culminating months of stepped-up U.S. pressure — brought their dreams of reuniting with loved ones closer to reality after years of heartbreaking separations.

People gathered for a rally in Doral, Florida — the Miami suburb where President Donald Trump has a golf resort and where roughly half the population is of Venezuelan descent — as word spread that Venezuela's now-deposed president had been captured and flown out of the country.

Outside the El Arepazo restaurant, a hub of the Venezuelan culture of Doral, one man held a piece of cardboard with “Libertad” scrawled with a black marker. It was a sentiment expressed by other native Venezuelans hoping for a new beginning for their home country as they chanted “Liberty! Liberty! Liberty!"

"We’re like everybody — it’s a combination of feelings, of course," said Alejandra Arrieta, who came to the U.S. in 1997. "There’s fears. There’s excitement. There’s so many years that we’ve been waiting for this. Something had to happen in Venezuela. We all need the freedom.”

For David Nuñez, the regime change offered hope for a long-awaited reunion with loved ones.

Nuñez said he fled to the United States six years ago after being persecuted in Venezuela for his political activism. He hasn't seen his daughters — ages 8 and 17 — since then.

“The most important thing is that we’re going to be able to be with our families soon,” Nuñez said. “At least for me, I haven’t seen my daughters in six years so I have a lot of mixed feelings. I’ve cried a lot. I’m really happy because I know that I’m going to be able to return to Venezuela very soon.”

Trump insisted Saturday that the U.S. government would run the country at least temporarily and was already doing so. The action marked the culmination of an escalating Trump administration pressure campaign on the oil-rich South American nation as well as weeks of planning that tracked Maduro’s behavioral habits.

After Trump’s press conference about U.S. actions in Venezuela, people still gathered outside of the Doral restaurant sang, danced and waved flags. A percussionist drummed along with the singing crowd.

About 8 million people have fled Venezuela since 2014, settling first in neighboring countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. After the COVID-19 pandemic, they increasingly set their sights on the United States, walking through the jungle in Colombia and Panama or flying to the U.S. on humanitarian parole with a financial sponsor.

In South Florida, deep-seated concerns in the Venezuelan community about Trump's tough immigration policies gave way to celebrations after Maduro was deposed in the American military operation early Saturday.

In Doral, upper-middle-class professionals and entrepreneurs came to invest in property and businesses when socialist Hugo Chávez won the presidency in the late 1990s. They were followed by political opponents and entrepreneurs who set up small businesses. In recent years, more lower-income Venezuelans have come for work in service industries.

They are doctors, lawyers, beauticians, construction workers and house cleaners. Some are naturalized U.S. citizens or live in the country illegally with U.S.-born children. Others overstay tourist visas, seek asylum or have some form of temporary status.

Niurka Meléndez, who fled from Venezuela in 2015, said Saturday she’s hopeful that Maduro’s ouster will improve life in her homeland. Meléndez immigrated to New York City, where she co-founded the group Venezuelans and Immigrants Aid, which strives to empower the lives of immigrants. She became a steadfast advocate for change in her home country, where she said her countrymen faced a humanitarian crisis.

Now, she hopes those hardships will fade away.

“For us, it’s just the start of the justice we need to see,” Meléndez said in a phone interview.

Her homeland had reached a “breaking point” due to forced displacements, repression, hunger and fear, she said. Now there's a need for international humanitarian support to help in Venezuela's recovery.

“Removing an authoritarian system responsible for these crimes creates the possibility, not a guarantee, but a possibility, for recovery,” she said. “A future without criminal control over institutions is the minimum condition for rebuilding a country based on justice, rule of law, and democratic safeguards.”

Schreiner reported from Shelbyville, Kentucky.

People celebrate outside Versailles Cuban Cuisine after President Donald Trump announced Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro had been captured and flown out of the country, in Miami, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)

People celebrate outside Versailles Cuban Cuisine after President Donald Trump announced Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro had been captured and flown out of the country, in Miami, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)

Lorenzo Coppola, 47, and his son Valentino join others to celebrate the news of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro capture in Doral, Fla., on Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vanessa Alvarez)

Alejandra Arrieta, 55, and her dog Bella pose for a photo outside of El Arepazo restaurant to celebrate the news of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro capture in Doral, Fla., on Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vanessa Alvarez)

From left, Venezuelans David Nuñez, Lisbeth Garcia, Victor Gimenez gather outside El Arepazo restaurant with a banner of opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado amid celebrations following news of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro capture in Doral, Fla., on Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vanessa Alvarez)