Levain-Levure

This is the general French term for yeast pre-ferment. It is usually stiff like a biga, but the term is sometimes used for thin pre-ferments like the poolish as well. The word levure means “yeast.” Do not confuse levain-levure with the word levain alone. Levain means “sourdough” or “culture starter,” and pain au levain means “sourdough bread.”