MADE HERE Les Bonnes Miches (The Good Loaves)

A light goes on in the kitchen of Nicolas Papoin between two and four a.m., and the artisan begins baking his hearty bread loaves for that day, filling the air with a rich aroma. This dough, made the previous day, has been proofed for 24 hours. He makes tomorrow's dough while the bread bakes. &emsp;&emsp;From a master stone carver to an artisan bread baker, Papoin of Brittany, France, has long made a living using his strong, sturdy hands. His stone work included restorations of old cathedrals, basilicas, castles and more. He says there's no going back if mistakes are made in either profession. &emsp;&emsp;Like his father, he studied stone carving in the Free Masons' tradition, which began in medieval times with an experience-based ranking system. &emsp;&emsp;He left home at age 16 and traveled the country doing stonework jobs. Projects could take as long as two years, and Papoin stayed in his yurt while working there. &emsp;&emsp;"This guy knows how to work really hard," his wife, Emily Lambert, says of the heavy lifting and physically demanding work with stones. &emsp;&emsp;Lambert and Papoin met while she was in Léhon for an artist's residency, painting in an old abbey. She extended her trip for a month to travel with him. &emsp;&emsp;"Nico gave me a food tour of France," she says. &emsp;&emsp;The following fall, he visited her in New York City, and they were married the next March in 2017. &emsp;&emsp;He missed the French cuisine and bread from home, which he could not find in New York. So, he started preparing meals himself, Lambert explains. &emsp;&emsp;In his home village, Léhon, he grew up with three bakeries on every block, where bread was made fresh daily. The communal ovens brought people together to bake their loaves. &emsp;&emsp;"Bread should not be in plastic. In France, you buy fresh bread every day. There's no way you would sell day-old bread. You would close your shop!" he says. &emsp;&emsp; &emsp;&emsp;The couple moved to Harrisville and then Peterborough, New Hampshire, when Lambert came to teach art at Keene State College. Lambert's close friend, Anya Regelin, a New York City chef and writer, brought her a housewarming gift in January 2021 — everything needed to make sourdough bread. Papoin could not keep himself from getting involved and adding advice. Thus began his bread-making journey, baking four loaves at a time initially and sharing them with neighbors and friends. &emsp;&emsp;They were impressed and wanted to buy more. So, he increased the number of loaves, bringing some to Rosaly's Farmstand in Peterborough, where customers could sample and buy them. This helped the couple make a great community connection and get the word out there, Lambert recalls. &emsp;&emsp;"I remember a little child coming up, tasting a sample, and saying, 'Daddy, I want the big one!'" says Lambert. &emsp;&emsp;Word of his bread spread, as did the demand for it. Now, he bakes up to 300 loaves per week. The couple markets it as Les Bonnes Miches, "The Good Loaves." &emsp;&emsp;Papoin uses sourdough starter for all his loaves and organic flour from Quebec that has a certain subtle flavor he can taste. This is influenced by the conditions where it is grown, he says. He explains that sourdough is easier to digest than commercial yeast, especially for gluten-sensitive people. &emsp;&emsp;His bread is available at various local markets, each on certain days. These include Harrisville General Store, The Root in Temple, Nature's Green Grocer and Rosaly's Farmstand, both in Peterborough. And he has expanded this spring, selling at New Hampshire farmers' markets in Peterborough, Milford, Greenfield, Jaffrey, and sometimes Keene as a guest vendor. Claremont is the next town where he will be a guest vendor. &emsp;&emsp;Former Chef Manager at Harrisville General Store, Samantha Holmes-Rule, welcomed Papoin's bread and suggested he try making different flavors. He now makes multi-seed, plain, sesame seed, walnut rye, cranberry poppy and whole wheat, some on a rotating or seasonal basis. A rosemary olive loaf is coming soon. &emsp;&emsp;Papoin's latest achievement, after much experimentation, is a delicious brioche. He brought Lambert a sample with morning coffee recently. She joked that now she'd only want this with her coffee. &emsp;&emsp;"That's not food. That's pleasure," she says. &emsp;&emsp;More info: les-bonnes-miches.business.site