Why it works: Flour and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,355 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Ordinary or Fermented Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare the dough
In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt.
Dissolve the yeast in warm water and add to the flour mixture.
If using, mash the boiled potatoes and mix them in.
Knead the dough until smooth, then let it rise in a warm place until doubled in size.
Shape and bake
Shape the dough into a loaf and place it in a greased pan.
Let it rise again until it has risen above the edge of the pan.
Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) for about 30 minutes or until golden brown.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Flour + potatotop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,355 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Forms the gluten network that gives the bread its structure and chew.
- Yeast
- Produces carbon dioxide gas as it ferments, making the dough rise and become airy.
- Water
- Hydrates the flour so gluten can form and activates the yeast.
- Boiled potatoes
- Adds moisture and starch, giving a softer, moister crumb.
The step that matters
Letting the dough rise until doubled. Yeast needs time and warmth to ferment and build gas bubbles. Under-proofed dough bakes dense, while over-proofed dough can collapse and lose structure.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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