Name: Rice Bread
Ingredients: 4 gallons of flour (16 cups); 2 pounds of rice (about 1 cup); 16 pints of water (2 gallons); 2 small handfuls of coarse sea salt (formerly 'bay salt'); 3 or 4 well-boiled potatoes

Why it works: Rice and potato match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 851 recipes. Both carry 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, which smells popcorn, roasted. The science ↓

Rice Bread

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderately hot oven

Ingredients

4 gallons of flour (16 cups)
2 pounds of rice (about 1 cup)
16 pints of water (2 gallons)
2 small handfuls of coarse sea salt (formerly 'bay salt')
3 or 4 well-boiled potatoes

Directions

The book says “a moderately hot oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Soak the rice in 3 quarts of water for 2 hours.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
After soaking, place the rice in the oven for 2 hours until swollen.
Mash the boiled potatoes and mix with enough hot water to create a batter.
Gradually add a small plateful of warm flour and yeast to the potato mixture, beating well.
Let the mixture sit by the fire for 2 hours until it ferments.
Knead the swollen rice into 1 stone (2 gallons) of flour and add the salt.
Place the dough in large tins and let it rise to the top before baking.
Divide the dough into 10 loaves and bake for 2 hours.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Rice + potatotop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together851 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
Flour + potatotop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,355 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + ricetop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,611 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).