Crumb je ne sais quois in Tartine Master Class Video
I was astonished at the extraordinary crumb quality of the loaf that Chad Robertson slices at about 5:06 in the Tartine Master Class video [1]. Absolutely heavenly cakey and soft between those big voids, not at all as I've imagined his ideal Tartine boule to be (e.g., p 78 of Tartine Bread). My best efforts are several Lufthansa flights away from the product on which they're spreading butter when the credits roll in that German Master class YouTube. This is a different beast entirely.
Has anyone reading this achieved such a crumb in a lean Tartinesque boule? Share any secrets? Was it the local flour he adopted there? Could it have been his starter? (Could starter variation affect crumb quality so dramatically? Taste, obviously, but crumb texture?) I've not had the pleasure of sampling the genuine item at his Mission emporium. If anyone here has, does his SF crumb have the je ne sais quois revealed in that video? After watching that clip (over and over, how sick is that?), I've certainly revised my objectives for that loaf. I am smitten!
tdb