From the daily visit of his client Yvette to his Carmelite boutique, Jean Lapoujade derives the greatest satisfaction: “His smile and his humanity are dearer to me than all the distinctions in the world. “
No affinities in the words, the man, baker of his state passed through law studies and a sports marketing activity, attaches more importance to these human relationships and to the opinions of his clients rather than to any competitions will no doubt await professionals with recognition: “My jury is my clients, it’s a daily jury. “In the bakeries of Les Carmes, Saint-Aubin and Port Saint-Sauveur, the recommendation for around forty employees does not deviate one iota:” When an elderly person arrives in the evening who asks for half a baguette, you you can be sure that you are the last person she talks to. So I want her to take, in addition to the half-baguette, which is surely the smallest ticket you are going to sell, your smile and your human warmth. “
The approach, forged alongside Lionel Poilâne (1945-2002) for 24 years, this affable sexagenarian also defends it with a sense of humor and a good word that led him to write books dedicated to rugby and bistros, bread also that the “Bocuse de la boulangerie” made him discover: “The man was brilliant, he taught me to make and love bread and I stayed there even ten years after his death. in 2002. “

The baguette, a heritage?

His passion for flutes, baguettes, loaves and crowns, Jean Lapoujade exposes them in “Les Mots du pain” published by the Privat editions in 2019 but also when you launch it on the subject of the inscription of the said baguette in the cultural and intangible heritage of UNESCO: “It is not because the baguette will be registered that it will be good and above all it has no legitimacy to be registered. To include bread in its entirety would make sense since it has fed men for 10,000 years, but the baguette is relatively recent. In addition, despite the fact that the French wear this symbol, it is Austrian by origin! And until the 1990s, she was disgusting! Good bread is relatively recent, due to Lionel Poilâne. “Ardent defender of the profession, of crafts, of” cultural training as important as technical training “, the affable sexagenarian hopes for a revaluation of the image of manual trades:” That young people, people come to our trades by membership and not following a school failure. “As for the price of the baguette, linked to the increase in the price of wheat, patience and moderation must predominate:” We must reduce next year so we must smooth all that over several years … “And that does not eat pain…