Pain du Partage Sourdough

The Bread Made for Sharing.

Pain du Partage — literally, "bread for sharing" — is Boulangerie Christophe's most generous loaf. A large, deeply scored sourdough boule with a shatteringly crisp, blistered crust and a wildly open, chewy crumb, built to be torn apart at the table and shared with the people you love. This is the loaf you bring to a dinner party. The one that disappears before anything else.

Rich, complex, and deeply satisfying — with the slow-fermented tang and wheaty depth that only a true sourdough can deliver.

A Living Starter, Years in the Making

Every Pain du Partage begins with Christophe's house sourdough starter — a living culture of wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria that he has maintained and fed daily for years. This starter is the soul of the bread: it drives the fermentation, develops the flavor, and gives the loaf its characteristic open crumb and complex tang. No commercial yeast. No shortcuts.

Long, Cold Fermentation

After mixing, the dough undergoes a long, cold bulk fermentation followed by an overnight proof in the refrigerator. This two-stage process — often spanning 24 to 36 hours in total — allows the wild yeast to work slowly and the lactic acid bacteria to develop the bread's signature flavor: deeply wheaty and buttery up front, with a clean, lingering tang and a complexity that reveals itself with every bite.

Hand-Shaped, Stone-Baked

Each loaf is shaped entirely by hand, developing the surface tension that gives the boule its characteristic tight, domed profile. It's baked in a screaming hot Dutch oven on a stone deck — the enclosed steam environment replicating the professional deck oven conditions that produce the dramatic oven spring, blistered crust, and signature grigne (ear) that make a great sourdough instantly recognizable.

The Scoring

Each Pain du Partage is scored with Christophe's signature deep, decorative cuts using a razor-sharp lame — both functional and beautiful. The scoring controls how the loaf opens in the oven, directing the spring and creating the dramatic, raised crust patterns that make this bread as striking to look at as it is to eat.

Pure Ingredients

• Organic stone-milled flour
• Filtered water
• Sea salt
• Live sourdough starter (wild yeast culture)

Four ingredients. Years of craft. Nothing else.

Best enjoyed the day of baking, torn by hand at the table. Pairs beautifully with good butter and fleur de sel, aged cheese, charcuterie, olive oil and dukkah, or alongside any meal that deserves great bread. To refresh a day-old loaf, bake at 400°F for 8–10 minutes. Freezes exceptionally well — slice before freezing and toast directly from frozen.