October Birth Bread
Birth Bread
Pain de Campagne
Pain de Campagne, meaning 'country' in French, is a bread with a free and creative soul. Born in the rural areas around Paris, this bread is characterized by its irregular, non-uniform shape and rustic yet profound flavor. By blending wheat flour with rye flour or whole wheat flour and using homemade sourdough starter (levain), it develops a tangy complexity of flavors. In contrast to the uniformity sought in baguettes, campagne is beloved as an artistic bread where the maker's personality and skill are clearly expressed. Its shapes vary from oval to dome, with no two loaves being identical. This diversity expresses the unique beauty of each piece, like October's autumn leaves that differ one by one. In the French countryside, each family has its own traditional recipe passed down through generations, carefully preserved as each household's distinctive flavor. During harvest festivals, campagne made from new grain graces the table, simultaneously expressing gratitude for abundance and respect for individuality, making it a bread with deep cultural significance.
Features
- Complex flavors and high nutritional value from rye flour and whole wheat flour blends
- Distinctive tangy and rich flavor from homemade sourdough starter (levain)
- Distinctive shapes varying by maker, from oval to dome forms
- Thick crust with airy, chewy interior texture full of bubbles
- 2-3 day shelf life with flavor that deepens and changes over time
- Diversity of traditional recipes varying by region and household
Personality
- Free-spirited, unconventional personality with an artistic temperament
- Possesses rustic simplicity of country living and deep wisdom unavailable in cities
- Values individuality with strong independence that abhors standardization
- Patient nature that matures slowly over time and expresses itself thoroughly
- Inclusive heart that draws out and harmonizes the inherent power of ingredients
- Adventurous spirit that respects tradition while fearlessly exploring new expressions
Symbolic Meaning
- Liberation of individuality and expression of creativity, resistance to standardization
- Countryside richness and wisdom of simple living, harmony with nature
- Beauty of diversity and tolerance that accepts differences
- Value of handcraft and artisan soul, inheritance of traditional techniques
- Gratitude for harvest blessings and humility in receiving earth's bounty
- Depth from patient aging and unhurried way of living
Reason for Selection
- Like October's autumn leaves, each piece has different shape and hue, expressing the beauty of individuality
- Like Halloween costumes, symbolizes unconventional free expression and creativity
- Representative country bread that simply expresses abundance befitting harvest festival season
- Bread with free artistic beauty befitting autumn of arts, where maker's personality is most evident
- Like how humans take center stage in Kannazuki (month when gods gather in Izumo), craftsman's skill shines
- In autumn harvest season, rich flavors of rye and whole wheat express grain's blessings
Protection & Effects
- Power to enhance creativity and artistic sensitivity, allowing unique expression to bloom
- Ability to utilize individuality and nurture unconventional free thinking
- Tolerant heart that accepts diversity and recognizes differences as beauty
- Country living wisdom and life force aligned with natural rhythms
- Courage to challenge new expressions while inheriting traditional techniques
- Patience to mature things over time and pursue depth
Trials & Growth
- Tendency to lack cohesion and face challenges with cooperation due to excessive freedom
- Risk of disregarding group unity and discipline due to overemphasizing individuality
- Stubbornness unable to adapt to changing times due to being too bound by tradition
- Difficulty in completing works due to perfectionist tendencies
- Establishing commercial viability to meet urban demand while maintaining rusticity
- Overcoming the peculiarity of being too individualistic to be accepted by everyone