Poolish & Co – Introduction
Poolish & Co is a new venue in Cygnet’s main road which is serving excellent breads, pastries and other treats as well as coffee from nearby Beansmith roastery.
There is a convenient sign outside on the footpath, but the bakery is quite easy to find – you won’t have any trouble.
When you walk in you should admire the art on the wall to the left, but your eyes will also be drawn to the array of breads and pastries on display.
We may need to explain the name for some. A poolish is like a pre-ferment that is quite liquid. Bakers who use a poolish often talk about the level of hydration with 100% being the goal. This means that it is a mix of water and flour in equal parts plus the addition of commercial yeast. The technique was actually first used (we think) in Poland almost 100 years ago which may be where the name comes from.
The main difference between a poolish and a French levain (sourdough starter) is that the levain on uses the bacteria and yeast that are in the air. Also a French levain is usually refreshed on a regular basis (often daily) and can be active for many years, whereas a poolish is usually made each day.
Poolish & Co – The Food
Bread is certainly front and centre here. You can see from the image below that there is a good selection of breads available each day. On the rainswept day we first visited there were Sesame loaves, Seed loaves, Fig & Fennel loaves, Miche loaves
Above you can see the Fig & Fennel loaves, the Miche (both large on the left and small on the right) and on the lower shelf Sesame Loaves, Seed Loaves and Country Loaves.
They also had very nice looking Canales, a stunning looking Lemon Cake, some Palmiers, Raspberry and
Rhubarb Danish, Croissants and more.
There are quite a few chairs outside under cover so that you can enjoy a coffee made from beans sourced from Beansmith which is just a short distance down the road behind the Port Cygnet Cannery. They always have interesting beans and we have thoroughly enjoyed a “new age” coffee from Papua New Guinea that we bought from Beansmith.
If the initial reaction to Poolish & Co continues then we are confident that it will be a great success and will be very good for Cygnet. On our visit two locals who we know were working here as well as the owners which is great for the community.
Additional information
Street: 26 Mary Street
Town/Suburb: Cygnet, 7112
Phone number: +61 404 186 654
Opening hours: Thu – Sun until 2pm
You can find out more about the coffee served here by reading our story about BeanSmith.
Poolish & Co also post on Instagram.
