A friend the other day tasting a bread I made was asking if I put different ingredients or surprises in a loaf. Evidently she thought bread needed something more then depth of character of my levain. I wondered if she considered the time consumed in preparing the levain. The harnessing of wild yeasts to lift and flavor a loaf. Most recently a pain au levain I recently baked,with some difficulty. Not that I didn’t know how to make a pain au levain, just my levain was telling me something else. Some how I decided to neglect my levain, chucking it in the fridge, not feeding it adequately and thinking that it would respond to whatever I felt like using it for. Not happening. So, if you want good bread, learn the fundamentals, stick by the rules and what the bread, levain and atmosphere tells you. Respect and follow the rules you learn in the craft of baking. Bakers harness  and maintain the different elements in baking, fermentation, shaping, baking. You can elevate your bread literally, with simple ingredients create amazing flavors, and of course throw in some special surprises and twists for those difficult friends who want a treat.