Jean-Paul Rojal, the artisan of sourdough
Jean-Paul Rojal wasn’t destined to become a baker. Born in Ecuador, he moved to Europe at the age of fourteen, between Switzerland and France. He studied physics at the University of Geneva, then branched out into finance after business studies. His career took him to a private bank, where he ended up as a strategic manager.
Unexpected trajectory
For him, making bread has always been a matter of course. He remembers the bread his father used to bring home after work: “It’s a bit like my Madeleine de Proust, his sourdough bread had character and told a great story. I remember my father eating it with goose fat! In his daily life, Jean-Paul enjoys entertaining, cooking and sharing, and bread is always the central theme. He soon began training alongside Jérôme Saugy, with whom he spent many hours in the field, on internships, to discover the reality of working in a short circuit bakery.
In Veyrier, he recently created Le Pli du Pain, after realizing that consumers lack the time to buy good bread. In his artisan bakery, there’s no store or tea-room, and the focus is on the product, which is delivered to the customer’s door. Working directly with local farmers, Jean-Paul adapts his recipes to the harvests: spelt, starch, Bordeaux red wheat, etc. “Each flour poses a new challenge and gives a new taste. Each flour poses a new challenge and gives a different bread.” At the heart of his bakery is a ten-year-old sourdough that he feeds every day; a living world, nourished by bacteria and natural yeasts, that shapes the taste and texture of his breads.
A rigorous craftsman, attentive to the living world
With a lively, almost philosophical approach, the name of his bakery refers to Deleuze and his philosophy of the folds of matter and its transformation during baking. A former physicist, Jean-Paul leaves nothing to chance. Temperature, humidity, fermentation: every variable is observed, adjusted and respected. All in all, a period of 24 hours elapses between the formation of the dough and its removal from the oven. His signature bread is a deep, structured country loaf.
Today, there’s no shortage of projects: developing new recipes, collaborating with other craftsmen, organizing workshops… He dreams of passing on his passion and showing that artisan baking can appeal to new generations: “It’s not an easy job, but it’s a living profession. Bread is an excuse to meet people. At a time when more and more consumers are seeking to give meaning to what they eat, Jean-Paul Rojal’s work resonates as a simple, sincere response. With his sourdough bread, he proves that another way of eating is possible.
